Last Saturday on Halloween day the husbandry staff shared Jack-o-Lanterns with some of the critters of the Aquarium of the Pacific. This week’s blog highlights a couple of the pumpkin encounters.
]]>Fin whales are the second largest animal in the world, only second to the blue whale. If you were to read up on the fin whale you would probably learn the longest recorded is about 89 feet, they look similar to blues, and that they rarely raise their tale out of the water while diving (fluking). Having read up on fin whales myself numerous times, when I saw a fin whale fluke I couldn’t believe my eyes! And even more amazing, I’ve seen fin whales fluke three times this year!
]]>Its been a little over a year now that the Aquarium has been conducting informal monthly observations of the Green Sea Turtle colony in the San Gabriel River. This week’s blog is a short summary of what has been seen during that time.
]]>I’ve calculated the number of whales we’ve seen from June 1, 2009 until last week from our logs! What an incredible amount of sightings and the numbers seem to be holding strong daily!
]]>Miller the sea lion adds his artwork to Sea Fare.
]]>The Aquarium of the Pacific sea lions have finished their masterpieces that will up for auction at this year’s Sea Fare. This week’s blog is a sneak peek at their artwork.
]]>Anyone that’s ever chatted with me about whales has probably learned that my all-time favorite animal is the orca a.k.a. killer whale. Out of everything I want to study and be around, orcas are my number one! I’ve recently gotten a report that a pod of orcas are on the way and might be in Long Beach this week!
]]>Some of our intelligent and highly talented sea lions are learning a new way to express themselves. They are adding the art of painting to their abilities.
]]>Even though our summer has winded down, the blue whales and other wildlife haven’t seemed to notice. The blue whales won’t be here for too much longer, but they’re still showing strong. On my trip out a few days ago I saw six blue whales and bottlenose dolphins! What a trip!
]]>Tiger sharks are a sensitive species that are rare to find in captivity. Check out some of the steps we took at the Aquarium to ensure our tiger shark successfully joined our family of volunteers, staff, birds, mammals, and fish!
]]>My favorite time on Saturday mornings during my weekly volunteer shift at the Aquarium of the Pacific is the hour just after the Aquarium opens and just before the majority of our guests arrive. This week’s blog includes a short point-of-view video shot last Saturday via a “volunteer-cam” in an attempt to share with you, the reader, a bit of the magic of that first hour of the day.
]]>“Why are the blue whales here?” is a common question I get while working on the boat. The answer I most often reply with is “They’re here because they’re feeding on krill which is a small, shrimp-like animal.” Typically the krill they eat are pretty deep, around 500 feet or so, but I always mention how on rare occasions the krill are at the surface and the blue whales will lunge feed at the surface. I’ve never seen it done … until now!
]]>No matter what part of the country my business travels may take me during the workweek, be it the urban maze of New York, the wilds of Alaska, the mountains of Colorado or the swamps of the Carolinas, I’ve always made it a point of getting back to Southern California in time to cover my Saturday volunteer shift at the Aquarium of the Pacific. Sometimes it’s meant taking a late red-eye flight or finding an unusual connection through tiny airports but somehow the majority of the times I’ve managed to make it back to cover my shift. In fact this month I’ve recorded my 5000th hour as a volunteer at the Aquarium.
To commemorate this personal milestone this week’s blog is a list of the top ten reasons why I’ve volunteered so many hours to the Aquarium.
]]>The past few weeks, we’ve been seeing a decent number of cow/calf pairs of blue whales. Just recently I got word that a calf was seen nursing! Now even though I haven’t witnessed this with blue whales myself, I did recently get to see beluga whales nursing!
]]>As you may have heard, the Aquarium now has a young female tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier) on exhibit in Shark Lagoon! In honor of this groundbreaking display, I’ll be writing about the beautiful girl for my next couple blogs. Recently, I had the opportunity to be up close and personal for a Saturday morning feeding.
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