Animal Updates | Mammals | Volunteering
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Hugh’s Aquarium Animal Cast Of Characters: Part One | Hugh 
A list of the critters I spend my Saturdays with
This week I’d like to share with everyone a list of the wonderful cast of animal characters that I’ll be working around on Saturdays during my volunteer shift at the Aquarium of the Pacific in 2012. We’ll start with the marine mammals.
Animal Updates | Mammals | Conservation | Whale Watching
Friday, January 13, 2012
Orcas…AGAIN! | Kera
This has truly been an amazing whale watch season, and there are still so many months to go! Our interns for the spring arrived this week and on Tuesday we went out on the boats for a training. When I was walking down to the boat, Captain Chris asked me if I had my camera (which of course I always do), and he said “Good! It’s your lucky day!” Read on to find out what made this day extra special!
Animal Updates | Mammals | Volunteering | Whale Watching
Thursday, January 05, 2012
Watching Breaching Whales From The Cliffs | Hugh
Breaching Gray Whales and Aggressive Looking Orcas Make for Exciting Whale Watching from Point Vicente
There are few places in the world where you can stand in one spot and have the potential of spotting two dozen species of marine mammals. One of those places is in the Aquarium of the Pacific own backyard. The cliffs of the Palos Verdes Peninsula just a few miles up the coast offers a unique vantage point for sighting marine mammals without having the threat of sea sickness.
Animal Updates | Reptiles | Volunteering
Thursday, December 22, 2011
Photographing the Sea Turtles of the San Gabriel River | Hugh
Learning the surfacing patterns of urban sea turtles.
Since August of 2008 my wife Pam and I have been conducting an informal survey of the green sea turtles of the San Gabriel River for the Aquarium of the Pacific. While Pam handles the data gathering portion of the research I have the responsibility of photo documenting the resident turtles of this river that runs between Los Angeles and Orange County. In this week’s blog I’d like to share a few of the images that I’ve shot this past year of these improbable urban river residents.
Animal Updates | Mammals | Volunteering
Thursday, December 08, 2011
Ollie the Otter’s First Snowman | Hugh
Ollie enjoys her first Holiday Treats for the Animals Day.
During last year’s Holiday Treats for the Animals event, while the rest of the otters at the Aquarium of the Pacific were playing in the snowy landscape laid out for them by the staff in the sea otter exhibit, Ollie the orphan otter pup had to be content being by herself in her holding pen in the behind the scenes area. She was too little then to be in the main exhibit. This year however was different. On this year’s Holiday Treats Day, Ollie was in the exhibit enjoying her very first snowman!
Animal Updates | Birds | Mammals | Sharks | Volunteering
Thursday, November 24, 2011
Random Snapshots From the Aquarium | Hugh
There's always something interesting to photograph at the Aquarium of the Pacific
This week’s blog features 5 random snapshots from the Aquarium of the Pacific.
Animal Updates | Mammals | Whale Watching
Friday, November 04, 2011
Blue Whale Season Wrapping Up | Kera
The whales are giving one heck of a finale!
We’re now into the first week of November and we’re still seeing blue and fin whales, and even a few humpbacks that have been in the area. Although the sightings are starting to get a little spotty, they’re still giving us a great show. Just this week we had some incredible lunge feeding and breaching whales!
Animal Updates | Sharks | Volunteering
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Big Guy - The Laid Back Sand Tiger Shark | Hugh
He’s one of the original inhabitants of Shark Lagoon. He looks big, bad and mean. But the Aquarists at the Aquarium of the Pacific know his deep down secret. He’s more Sherman from the comic strip Sherman’s Lagoon than Jaws from the movie Jaws. He is “Big Guy”, the Laid Backed Sand Tiger Shark.
Animal Updates | Mammals | Whale Watching
Thursday, October 20, 2011
When Being Late is Fine With Me! | Kera
This has been another exceptional year for blue whale watching. We’ve had hundreds of sightings, seen some incredible behaviors, and had very consistent sightings. Around this time the blue whales are normally leaving the area, and the sightings become a little spotty, but the sightings have never been better. It would seem they’re a little late in making their way to the winter grounds, but you won’t hear me complaining!
Animal Updates | Mammals | Volunteering
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Ollie Being Ollie | Hugh
A Baby Sea Otter's Unique Way Of Doing Things
Most of the Aquarium of the Pacific’s sea otters either lay on their backs or their bellies when eating on deck. That is all except Ollie. If there is one thing I’ve learned about Ollie the Otter it is that she does many thing in her own style. Ollie does so many things in her own unique way that the mammalogists and volunteers that work with the sea otters have come to refer to these random moments as “Ollie being Ollie”.
