Animal Updates | Mammals | Video | Whale Watching
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Racing Blue Whales and Orcas! | Kera 
All within one week!
All I can say about the last two weeks of whale watching is “WOW!” We’ve seen everything from vocal blue whales to transient orcas harassing a sea lion. I’m not sure it can get much better than this! Read on to find out details of our latest sightings.
Animal Updates | Mammals | Volunteering
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Who’s Who? | Hugh
Recognizing the Aquarium's Pinnipeds
To a wet-side volunteer like myself that spends a lot of time around them, the seals and sea lions of the Aquarium of the Pacific are as individual and recognizable as any of my close friends and relatives. However I’ve been reminded by a dry-side staffer that perhaps to guests and non marine mammal staff the pinnipeds may not be quite as recognizable to them. So this week’s blog is about how to tell our pinnipeds apart and, as a bit of an insight to them, how I tell them apart by their looks and personality.
Animal Updates | Mammals | Whale Watching
Thursday, September 08, 2011
A Repeat of Last Year? | Kera
I sure hope so!
In August and September of 2010, we had some of the best days of blue whale watching I’ve ever seen! Late last August the whale sightings started to increase quite a bit. At first it was 12 whales, then 15, and eventually we got up to over 20 whales! Although we’re a few weeks later into the season from last year, it looks like we’re up for a repeat of this massive gathering of whales!
Animal Updates | Mammals | Video | Volunteering
Thursday, September 01, 2011
Sea Lion-Cam with Milo…and Harpo | Hugh
Milo the sea lion received a new toy last weekend. His old low resolution video camera on his “sea lion-cam” rig has now been replaced with a new high definition video camera. Our aquatic photographer took it out for a test dive last Saturday. This week’s blog features the video shot by Milo while he and I tried out the camera for the first time.
Animal Updates | Birds | Fish | Mammals | Sharks
Monday, July 25, 2011
Cute Alert: Check Out Our Newest Baby Animals | Claire
Most of you have probably read about or seen our two Arctic fox kits at the Molina Animal Care Center. But we also have baby diving birds, newly hatched fish, and even a baby zebra shark at the Aquarium right now.
Video | Volunteering | Mammals
Thursday, June 23, 2011
CHECK OUT OLLIE THE OTTER PUP THIS SUMMER! | Hugh
Need a cute fix this summer? Come on out to the Aquarium of the Pacific and check out Ollie the sea otter pup! The adorable ball of fur is now part of the Sea Otter Exhibit!
Volunteering | Mammals
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
OLLIE THE SEA OTTER MEETS THE FURBALL | Hugh
It was the moment that I had been looking forward to for months. Little Orphan Ollie would finally meet the first sea otter that I’d ever help raise as a pup. The anticipation of the meeting stirred a bit of exultation and a little bit of anxiousness. What would happen when Ollie would finally meet the critter that I nicknamed the Furball?
Volunteering | Mammals
Thursday, May 26, 2011
SEA OTTER AND SEA LION RETRIEVAL BEHAVIORS | Hugh
What does a trainer do if they accidentally drop something into the otter exhibit? Or if it’s the end of the day and time to put the sea lion toys away? Does he or she don a wetsuit to retrieve the items personally from the water or find a long pole net to try to scoop them up? Well fortunately they don’t have to do either. One of the more practical behaviors that we train our sea lions and otters to do at the Aquarium of the Pacific is to retrieve objects from their exhibit.
Whale Watching | Mammals
Thursday, May 19, 2011
We Get to Play “Blue Whale Guess Who” This Summer | Kera
The summer interns have arrived! The next few weeks will be full of trainings so we can get them ready for this upcoming blue whale season. After spending some time with Cascadia researchers, we’ve amped up this year’s data collection and can’t wait to get out there and share the results. Read on to find out what we’re doing that’s going to yield some exciting news in the upcoming months!
Whale Watching | Mammals
Wednesday, May 04, 2011
Dolphin and Sea Life Cruises Are Starting with a Bang! | Kera
As of May 1, gray whale season has officially ended, but that doesn’t mean there’s not a lot going on in the water. Read on to find out what fun, active, dolphins we’ve been watching.
