Conservation | Volunteering | Fish | Invertebrates | Mammals
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
ODE TO A BOX OF SQUID | Hugh 
“Calamari in my hand—-
Fancy name bestowed by man.
Kids will eat it with a bib—-
To a seal it’s just a squid.”
The story of Loligo opalescens—-aka Calamari or Market Squid
Conservation | Birds | Mammals | Reptiles
Monday, March 17, 2008
Up Close and Personal-The Program Animals | Hugh
Lola is a cockatoo. How do I know this? Because Lola told me that he was. When program keeper Melissa had the bird on her arm and asked Lola “What are you?” Lola replied “COCKTOO!” Lola is one of the many program animals that our staff takes around the aquarium to interact with guests.
Diving | Volunteering | Mammals
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
SWIMMING WITH SEA LIONS | Hugh
Some of my fondest memories of volunteering at the Aquarium of the Pacific come from the impromptu enrichment swims that we use to do in the Seal and Sea Lion Exhibit. I remember floating in the water nose to nose with a sea lion only inches away from my mask as we both lazily bobbed just under the surface with the critter looking upon me with a gaze of familiarity that only comes from years of working with an animal.
Volunteering | Birds | Mammals | Sharks | Turtles
Thursday, February 14, 2008
HUGH’S SATURDAY WITH THE CRITTERS | Hugh
For those of you who wonder what I actually do during my Saturday marine mammal shift at the Aquarium of the Pacific, this week’s blog is a rundown of my day.
Conservation | Education | Mammals
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tracking a Seal by Satellite | Hugh
Back in the summer of 1999, a visitor watching our sea lions swim past the pinniped tunnel at the Aquarium of the Pacific mentioned to me that she had taken a vacation up to Hearst Castle recently and while there had seen elephant seals resting on the beach. She noticed that a few had faded orange tags on their flippers and that one of the seals had a tag that read 3709. The number sounded familiar so I looked it up in my records. It was quite a revelation. The seal that the woman saw on the beach was “Mac”, an elephant seal that I helped track by satellite two years before. I thought it might be cool to share with everyone the details of Mac’s voyage that year.
Conservation | Birds
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
SAVING AFRICAN PENGUINS | Hugh
On June 23, 2000, an ecological disaster occurred when the ore carrier MV Treasure sank off the coast of South Africa between Dassen and Robben Islands near Cape Town which supported two of the largest colonies of the African Penguin (Spheniscus demerus) in the world. Tens of thousands of penguins were in danger of dying from the oil that was surrounding their breeding beaches. A cry went out worldwide to zoos and aquariums for assistance. They sought the expertise of these facilities to help deal with this disaster. The Aquarium of the Pacific responded to the call by sending their aviculturist Karen Anderson.
Conservation | Whale Watching | Mammals
Thursday, January 03, 2008
WHALE WATCHING 101 | Hugh
Going on a whale watching trip with the aquarium? Want to know what you might see? Worried about seasickness? Here are some tips from an avid whale watcher.
Volunteering | Mammals
Thursday, December 20, 2007
HOLIDAYS WITH THE CRITTERS | Hugh
There are only a few days out of the year where the Aquarium of the Pacific is closed to the public. One of them is Christmas day. However, like working on a farm, people who care for animals can’t all take the whole day off because the fishes, mammals and birds still need to be fed and tended to, so on Christmas day there will be a small cadre of husbandry staff spending the holiday with the critters.
Volunteering | Mammals
Thursday, December 06, 2007
Charlie the Famous Otter, Brook the Sith Otter, and Summer the Whiny Otter | Hugh
The internationally renowned Charlie the otter, Brook the light-saber wielding otter, and Summer the whiny otter— our famous otters.
Conservation | Mammals
Thursday, November 22, 2007
In the Surf Trying to Save a Baby Fin Whale | Hugh
Four years ago this week, the Aquarium of the Pacific had a little known part in the attempted rescue of a fin whale calf that stranded on a beach in Orange County back in the fall of 2003. This is the story of that rescue attempt as seen from my perspective in the surf with the whale.
