Pennington Marine Science Center

Tune in live this Thursday (April 9th) at 10:30 AM to get excited about Kelp Forests with our Director Dave Chan. We are broadcasting live from Camp Emerald Bay on Catalina Island! We hope to "see" you there!

Thank you to Shaun Ace Wolfe for all of the time and effort he put into this piece about the recompression chamber we use at the PMSC. This equipment allows us to bring fish normally seen deeper up to ambient pressure without harm.

Pennington Marine Science Center Director David Chan is currently aboard the Nautilus Live as a Science Communication Fellow! Listen in from 1-4 am or pm to hear him and other fellows narrate and ID things as the deep sea submersibles explore and map the ocean floor off the coast of San Francisco! https://nautiluslive.org/

Today, my last day as Marine Biologist & Educator of the Pennington Marine Science Center, my last day of work for Camp Emerald Bay and the BSA, I find myself r...eflecting on the past 3.5 years I have spent on Catalina island. It’s a bitter sweet feeling. Camp is home, camp is family, the island gets in your blood and never leaves. It’s hard to describe what a unique and special place Camp Emerald Bay truly is, but as I think back on all the people, moments, memories and adventures associated with my time at camp, I am thankful and I smile. Thank you to everyone who was part of a truly amazing experience. I have learned and grown more than I could have ever imagined. I am proud of all that we achieved together and will always think fondly of my time at camp and the Pennington Marine Science Center . The decision to leave (though the right one and right time for myself) has been a hard one, but I am excited for what the future holds for the #PMSC, camp and all of those associated and I wish you all the best and future success. Though I do not know what or where yet, I am also excited for what surprises, growth and adventure life has in store for me next. I do not believe in goodbyes. There is no last time. So until next time, so long and thanks for all the fish! Boy Scouts of America, Western Los Angeles County Council See more

What are past interns up to now and what do they want to do next? What did they learn at the PMSC and how did it help them? Meet Matt Wade! He was an intern in 2012, pictured holding a California spiny lobster he collected for the PMSC and hookah diving to clean our Kelp Forest exhibit. Now he is a jellies aquarist at the National Aquarium in Baltimore (pictured by the ocean), where he maintains the Jellies Invasion exhibit and cultures jellies at the jelly culture lab. Whil...e at the PMSC Matt learned about marine fish and invertebrate husbandry as well as how to maintain the life support systems to keep aquarium animals alive. He had the opportunity to collect display animals for the PMSC and learned proper handling methods to ensure his own safety as well as the safety of the animals he was collecting. Matt says, One of the most important things I learned was that aquarists do not just take care of fish, they also utilize a living collection to inspire conservation in guests. The day after his internship at the PMSC he got an interview for an aquarist position at the Dallas World Aquarium, where he worked for two years. After Dallas he worked at the Frost Museum of Science propagating corals and taking care of the exhibits in their sea lab. Working at the PMSC gave him a great background working in husbandry and enabled him to jump right into an aquarist position. Being able to spend a lot of time diving the kelp forest around Emerald Bay made him much more comfortable with his diving skills, which was valuable when he started diving in exhibits at the Dallas World Aquarium. He was also much more comfortable speaking with guests about marine science, something he enjoys doing whenever he gets a chance. Matt’s dream aspiration is to become a senior aquarist working with jellies, corals, and syngnathids, because he enjoys the challenge of caring for these animals. Eventually he would like to be a curator of an aquarium but he wants to spend a lot more time working directly with animals before that time. #internship #intern #pmsc #marinebiology #marinescience #nationalaquarium #jellies #aquarist #campemeraldbay #bsa_westla