Aquarium Audio

Plastic garbage makes its way from our streets to the sea. Learn where many of these plastics end up, how they impact marine life, and what you can do to help.

Meet the Aquarium staff member tasked with giving proper veterinary care to our 11,000 animals.

Believe it or not, a shark’s mouth isn’t the only place it has teeth!

The fourth and final alternative set forth by the Reconnaissance Study does not actually alter the breakwater at all, but creates a training structure at the mouth of the LA river to push contaminates away from our shores.

Sharks are very successful and adaptive animals. They have been around for 400 million years. Learn more about their evolutionary history listening to the “Evolution of Sharks.”

The third alternative set forth by the Reconnaissance Study reconfigures the breakwater into three staggered sections. This increases the possibility for waves on the shore but also the likelihood of the need for mitigation for the Port and the THUMS Islands.

The second alternative set forth by the Reconnaissance Study removes the western third of the breakwater. This creates the possibility for waves to reach the shore and water quality improvements, but also the likelihood of the need for mitigation for the Port and the THUMS Islands.

The first alternative set forth by the Reconnaissance Study is proposed by long-time Long Beach resident and engineer Bud Johnson. This is the most cost effective alternative, but researchers think that it does not address the concerns for water quality, habitat improvements, and recreation.

Find out more about the science behind the phenomenon and how it may affect you.

Top predatory sharks play a crucial role in the oceans ecosystems. Their predatory behaviors on sick, injured, and lesser predatory animals keep ocean food webs thriving. When you remove top predatory animals, the results can be devastating.

Marine protected areas are found throughout the oceans of the world. They may carry different names – parks, refuges, reserves, sanctuaries – but all serve to preserve and protect the ocean’s biodiversity and ecosystems. The Aquarium of the Pacific and its sister institutions are assisting in the search for possible new marine protected areas along the southern California coast.

Besides hearing, smelling, tasting, seeing, and feeling the world around them, sharks are adapted with a sixth sense that allows them to use electroreceptors called Ampullae de Lorenzini. Learn more about this rare ability that aids sharks in the skilled predation of their prey.

Should the Long Beach breakwater be altered to bring back the popular beaches Long Beach enjoyed in the 1930s? A sea of debate surrounds this controversial issue.

The very body part that makes sharks so intimidating is also what makes sharks so fascinating: teeth! From sharks that filter their food instead of biting to sharks that have jaws much like a nutcracker, you can learn a tremendous amount about a shark just by looking at its teeth.

Sibling rivalry takes on a whole new meaning in the case of sand tiger shark reproduction. Discover how these embryonic sharks become experienced predators even before they are born.