Heal the Bay Aquarium

We’re co-hosting a special Earth Month advocacy training with 5 Gyres, Break Free From Plastic, and Pacoima Beautiful. Join us to: Equip yourself with the k...nowledge and tools to advocate for plastic reduction policies in your community. Get the facts about the Deathcycle of plastics in Los Angeles and learn how to fight plastic pollution at all stages of the cycle. Hear from local experts on extraction, refining, manufacturing, toxins, recycling, and incineration. Use your voice to advocate in public comments on campaigns like #SkipTheStuff, #NoDrillingWhereWereLiving, and more. See more

#SaturdayScience Siphonophores are a type of Hydrozoan, and are related to jellies, anemones, and other Cnidarians.

Many species of cephalopods are thought to be the most intelligent of all invertebrates

Octo Feeding! #nomnom This two-spot octopus (Octopus bimaculoides) is feeding on an anchovy. She uses her hard, parrot-like beak to bite into the fish. Notice how she never leaves her eggs unguarded as she eats her meal. In the wild, female octopuses don’t leave their egg brood during their entire gestationwhich often means that they don’t eat at all while the eggs develop.

Egg-citing Octopus News! We are switching up today’s usual live animal feeding, and instead will be sharing some egg-cellent news from our two-spot octopus exhibit! Check out the update from Laura, and stay tuna-d as we watch these baby octos develop!

Swim by tomorrow for the next episode of Baby Shark Watch on IGTV - live at 1pm! At this stage, we can expect to see the yolk start to change shape and flatten on one side. If we're really lucky, we might even spot a little bump on the yolk. This would mean that the embryonic cells are starting to develop into a shark! healthebay.org/baby-shark-watch

Welcome to another education program update! Thank you for joining. Today we will be doing something new and exciting...

Hey, there! Swim by at 1:30 pm to virtually check in with our education team. Hear all about our upcoming Spring Break Science Camp and other virtual opportunities for young scholars to take part in marine science from home. Sea you there https://healthebay.org//aquarium-facebook-live/2021-02-18/

It’s Crab Appreciation Day! To celebrate, we're having a claw-some Instagram Live at 1:00 PM. We’ll take you down to the Santa Monica shoreline to virtually dig for sand crabs and learn about our Sand Crab Monitoring program. Until then, check out some other crabs commonly found in tide pools around Los Angeles. Can you name these species?

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are areas set aside to protect and conserve marine life and habitats. Heal the Bay leads the Los Angeles County shore-based MPA Watch program, and our volunteers are responsible for conducting scientific surveys and participating in other MPA research projects. Learn how you can become a MPA Watch volunteer and protect our coast and ocean healthebay.org/mpa

We’re serious about sand crabs and we’ll show you why. Join us on 2/17 for a live demonstration of our Sand Crab Monitoring program. Learn all about these critters, see how we collect sand crab data, and find out how to get involved with this community science-based initiative. healthebay.org/event/crab-appreciation-day-ig-live

Of all the fish in the sea, you're the one for me We hope you enjoyed learning about the underwater love lives of our local marine animals this week. Happy Valentine's Day! Looking for Valentine’s Day fun for the whole family? Download our digital craft kit for at-home activities like creating a pendant, greeting card, and visor: healthebay.org/aq-valentines-day-crafts

Float into the ocean depths with these juvenile moon jellies (Aurelia aurita) #DYK Moon jellies have been to outer space? Nearly 2,500 moon jelly polyps and ephyrae went into orbit on the space shuttle Columbia in 1991 ("The Effects of Microgravity-Induced Weightlessness on Aurelia Ephyra Differentiation and Statolith Synthesis." Led by Dr. Dorothy B. Spangenberg. Although they didn’t make it to the moon, they were part of a study on the effects of weightlessness on juve...nile jellies’ organ development. Turns out the moon jellies that develop in space can swim just fine in zero gravity, but once they were brought back down to Earth, they weren’t able to orient themselves in water. Want to help support our marine science education and clean water programs? For the spooktacular month of October, you can Aquadopt a moon jelly, and receive a free upgrade to our VIP Tour Digital Package! Your donations help support the care of these animals, and our mission to protect local habitats and marine life. healthebay.org/aquadoption

Today: Join P-22's Wildlife Wonderland, a FREE and fun virtual experience celebrating people and wildlife coexisting across the world. See exhibits, play interactive games, watch live musical performances, and more. Heal the Bay Aquarium will also be hosting a live virtual touch tank presentation at 2PM! https://p22wonderland.org/

Help sponsor the care and feeding of these amazing marine animals! $5: Provides 1 week of food for animals like moon jellies, sand crabs, blackeyed gobies. (filter feeders and algae eaters) $10: Provides 1 week of food for animals like baby swell shark pups, intertidal animals, California spiny lobsters, and Garibaldis. (small crustaceans and other small yummy bits) ... $15: Provides 1 week of food for animals like our baby giant sea bass, California halibut, and young wolf eel. (who in their teenage years eat quite a lot) $20: Provides 1 week of food for California moray eels, leopard sharks, and all of the adults sharks and rays. (top predators of Heal the Bay Aquarium) All proceeds benefit Heal the Bay, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Did you know that sharks have a skeleton, but no bones in their body? They’re in the Class Chondrichthyes, so they have a skeleton made of cartilage. Learn more about sharks and other ocean creatures TODAY @ 1:30PM PDTswim on by for our weekly Facebook Live Animal Feeding!

This weedy scorpionfish already has the perfect costume

#DYK most species of anglerfish are smaller than your hand! #Repost @mbari_news Things are getting creepy. #deepseastyle ... Deep-sea anglerfish are strange and elusive creatures that are very rarely observed in their natural habitat. Fewer than half a dozen have ever been captured on film or video by deep diving research vehicles. This little angler, about nine centimeters (about 3.5 inches) long, is named Melanocetus. It is also known as the black seadevil anglerfish, and it lives in the deep dark waters of the Monterey Canyon. MBARI's ROV Doc Ricketts observed this anglerfish for the first time at 600 meters (1,968 feet) on a midwater research expedition in November 2014. See more

What’s spookier than Halloween? Plastic pollution! Don’t let the ghost of plastic’s past come back to haunt you. Take part in our family-friendly, at-home, and sustainable Halloween challenges and unleash your kraken of creativity https://healthebay.org/halloween-at-home/

Welcome to the Heal The Bay Education update! Live from our Aquarium. It’s a Spooktacular month! Your generous donations help support our education and outreach to help increase science and environmental literacy, and expand youth stewardship in our Los Angeles watershed. Goal: $300 to cover the cost of a field trip for one school (~50-65 students)... Every little bit counts! Here are some ways to support: $5: Provides an opportunity for one (K-12) student to attend our field trip programs with hands-on experiences, connecting with these awesome, ambassador animals, and visiting the beach (many for the first time). $10: Sponsors a teacher workshop, science camp scholarship, or provides online curriculum for at-home learning. All proceeds benefit Heal the Bay, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization.

Ever seen one of these eggs on the beach? Join our amazing Aquarium Educators TODAY for our weekly Facebook Live Education Check-In at 1:30pm PDT. Learn about marine science, virtual curriculum and educational resources, and ask our staff questions!

That face #DYK wolf eels (Anarrhichthys ocellatus) are not considered true eels? This is because they have pectoral fins, and are actually in the wolffish family, Anarhichadidae.

Feeling prickly today? Although the warty sea cucumber (Parastichopus parvimensis) looks intimidating at first, the papillae, or pseudo spines, on its body are soft and gel-like (they feel like a squishy marshmallow!) #FunFact: Sea cucumbers use camouflage as their first line of defense against predators. However, like many other species of sea cucumbers, the warty sea cucumber will eject (eviscerate) its internal organs when threatened by predators, in hopes that the organs will be eaten in place of the individual. Since echinoderms have regenerative abilities, the cucumber’s organs can be regenerated over a period of about a month.

Surfing and snacks, what could be better on #WhaleWednesday