Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History

Thanks to all who joined us to explore the colorful world of natural pigments with the Santa Barbara Fiber Arts Guild and Museum educators! It was fascinating to learn about Japanese _shibori_ tie dye techniques and the natural red dye derived from the cochineal insects that live on prickly pear cactus (which can be found locally). Finally, we got a little messy and created our own cochineal-dyed art, guided by local artist Robin Hamlin. Did you know? Vincent Van Gogh used co...chineal pigment, too. This event was part of the Community Partner program in collaboration with Santa Barbara Museum of Art's current exhibition, Through Vincent’s Eyes: Van Gogh and His Sources on view just a few more days, to May 22! Don't miss it. Stay tuned for more fun workshops in our Art Meets Science series in future. Photos by Cathy Moseley/Santa Barbara Fiber Arts Guild See more

Welcome back to the Mesozoic! We are so happy to have our Members back in the picture this week to explore our outdoor exhibits, including Dinorama: Miniatures Through the Mesozoic and Prehistoric Forest (our big outdoor animatronic dinosaurs of summer 2019, back by popular demand). Head to the Backyard when you get dinosaured-out (if that's possible), although our naturalists may ask you some dino-related questions there. Yesterday Naturalist Charlotte quizzed kids: Which of... these two live animals in the Backyard is more closely related to dinosaurs (swipe to see): Chico the California Kingsnake or Ivan the Red-tailed Hawk? . . Most kids got it right: Ivan the hawk is an avian dinosaur, a descendant of the dinosaur lineage. Be sure to look and ask around in Dinorama's Jurassic area for early bird _Archaeopteryx_. You may not find it where you expect! Thanks to Member Maria (instagram.com/pumpey6) for sharing her family's visit to Dinorama. We're a Members-only campus until Feb 20, when we open to non-members. #memberbenefits To keep folks safely spread out, reservations are required for both Members and non-members. Visit sbnature.org/tickets to make your reservation. Masks are required for ages three and up. See more

(While you're still in a Valentine's Day mood...) Wait a minute I think someone’s watching us. Keep an eye out for sauropods mating in the wilds of the Jurassic in our Sprague Pavilion. But don’t do anything to alarm _Camarasaurus_, estimated to weigh in at 44,000 pounds. When sauropod titans move, they might squash an innocent bystander underfoot. This has been documented in the fossil record at least once; in August 2019, a group of paleontologists published their eviden...ce of a fossil dinosaur footprint with a turtle suggestively embedded in it. Look for these long-necked lovers when Members return to the Museum, Feb 17, non-members Feb 20. Masks are required for ages three and up; you must make a reservation at sbnature.org/tickets so we can keep all our guests socially distanced by spacing them out in time (though not millions of years apart). See more

Happy Valentine's Day... Two of our Giant Pacific Seahorses are in a romantic mood every morning. This is their pre-dawn dance, an early-morning ritual that aff...irms their bond and escalates into some really exciting synchronized swimming when it's time for their final courtship and mating. Thanks to Sea Center Interpretation and Volunteer Manager Sam Macks Franz, M.M.A., for recording this behavior and sharing her expertise; she used to work in a lab that studied this fascinating phenomenon! The Sea Center is currently closed, but our sister campus Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is about to reopen outdoor exhibits. Visit sbnature.org for more information. See more

"I'm counting the days until I can see Museum Members again! I have just enough fingers to do it. In the last year and a half, I've wandered the land, inspiring fear, awe, selfies, and junior paleontologists. Now I'm ready to come home. No matter that I never lived _here_ during the Mesozoic...I love it here, and I want to stay. Happy Valentine's Day!" Make a reservation to reciprocate the love of _T. rex_ at sbnature.org/tickets starting Feb. 17 for Members and Feb. 20 for non-members. *This is a work of anthropomorphism. Any resemblance to the actual views of extinct Mesozoic reptiles is entirely coincidental.

We're excited about this virtual dive with Santa Barbara Channelkeeper on Saturday! Check out the whole #UnderwaterParksDay lineup at http://sbnature.org/upd Sponsored in part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Grant OCE-1851194, EF-1921367 1921367.

Start your Saturday by pledging to protect the coast! Learn the ins and outs of all marine protected areas (MPAs) in the Santa Barbara Channel from marine scientist Rikki Eriksen, Ph.D., of the California Marine Sanctuary Foundation (CMSF). Dr. Eriksen will dive deep into why MPAs are so important as well as how to jump into the one nearest you. As a bonus, you can earn an Underwater Parks Day reusable canvas tote bag with supplies for a beach cleanup to complete your pledge ...to the coast. Bags will be available for pickup by the first 100 registrants at the Sea Center between January 16 and January 31. Pickup details will be emailed to you after registration. "Protecting the oceans protects our future as well as that of our children and grandchildren," says Eriksen. "We share the wonders of the oceans so that others may play, learn about and protect this magical underwater world." California Marine Sanctuary Foundation connects people to California's MPAs through educational resources about California's rich and diverse marine ecosystems. By providing MPA toolkits and resources to hundreds of partners including marinas, harbors, bait and tackle shops, sporting goods stores and MPA collaboratives across the state, CMSF builds stewardship of MPAs and empowers Californians to protect marine resources. This free online event is part of Underwater Parks Day. Check out sbnature.org/upd for Saturday's whole lineup of educational programming celebrating marine protected areas. Sponsored in part by the NSF Grant OCE-1851194, EF-1921367 1921367. See more

Get off my lawn! Ah, the distinctive cry of the California state marine fish... Find out why it's a territorial gardener when you join us this weekend in paying tribute to the Garibaldi with art. This free online workshop for kids is part of Underwater Parks Day. Check out sbnature.org/upd for Saturday's whole lineup of educational programming celebrating marine protected areas. Sponsored in part by the NSF Grant OCE-1851194, EF-1921367 1921367.

Can you spot the big crab in this tide pool? The cool crustacean is hiding in a crevice. "Be a gentle giant" when you explore tide pools, says Nature Adventures Camps Manager Ty Chin. "Be patient with tide pool animals as they are hiding from a giant creature": you! Kids ages 212 in our Nature Adventures winter classes will explore tide pools as part of their "fieldwork." It works like this: camp counselors give you tips for making the most of your visit, then you take trips... with your family to natural environments near your home, exploring habitats. Share your discoveries when our class meets again on Zoom. In addition to visiting tide pools, you'll go on a bug hunt, study animal adaptations, and find out how we are all connected! Each class will introduce a tool, a skill, or a new perspective on nature. Play with art techniques for enjoying nature and understanding science, like map-making, leaf rubbing, and coloring. Registration closes by 9:00 PM the night before class starts. You'll pick up materials from the Museum and receive a site visit schedule and Zoom invite. Visit sbnature.org/natureadventures today, the first classes start Monday, January 11. See more

Educators! Could you use a little help explaining the difference between mass and weight? NASA EPDC is sharing fun ways to illustrate these concepts by comparing activities your students can do on Earth with how these same experiments play out aboard the International Space Station! Check out this upcoming free webinar from NASA EPDC for educators in grades K12. (Please note the time zone where it's hosted is ET, three hours ahead of us in the Pacific zone.)

Here's a beautiful brittle star, seen at one of our favorite spots for local tide pooling. Kids ages 212 in our Nature Adventures winter classes (the first start on Monday) will explore tide pools as part of their "fieldwork." It works like this: camp counselors give you tips for making the most of your visit, then you take trips with your family to natural environments near your home, exploring habitats. Share your discoveries when our class meets again on Zoom. In addition... to visiting tide pools, you'll go on a bug hunt, study animal adaptations, and find out how we are all connected! Each class will introduce a tool, a skill, or a new perspective on nature. Play with art techniques for enjoying nature and understanding science, like map-making, leaf rubbing, and coloring. Registration closes by 9:00 PM the night before class starts. You'll pick up materials from the Museum and receive a site visit schedule and Zoom invite. Visit sbnature.org/natureadventures today to sign up. See more

Join us this weekend for Folk & Tribal Arts Pop-up: RoHo Goods to browse Kitenge fabric masks, one-of-a-kind Kenyan beaded leather sandals, cowhide bags, African beaded jewelry, Binga baskets, and cowhide home goods. RoHo Goods is one of our favorite vendors from our beloved annual fundraiser Folk & Tribal Arts Marketplace, and we’re delighted to welcome them to the Museum courtyard Dec. 1113. We know you love them, too; this summer, when we sold a style of their masks with ...colors that reminded us of Monarch butterflies, it sold out! We’re excited to see what they bring this weekend. All pop-ups run FriSun, 10:00 AM5:00 PM. Check out sbnature.org/calendar for details on the full lineup of vendors and dates, which also includes La Calenda Santa Barbara. 25% of sales benefit Museum exhibits and programs. Shopping the pop-ups and store are free, and no reservation is required. Museum exhibits are currently closed. See more

Good news: our beloved outdoor exhibit Prehistoric Forest (the one with the BIG dinos) is returning by popular demand in 2021! Plan ahead for the holidays and wrap up a time-traveling adventure in a gift of membership to the Museum and Sea Center. Until December 31, 2020, you can even buy or renew one membership and get a second membership 50% off in a special online-only offer. Visit sbnature.org/gift-membership to learn more.

Museum & Sea Center outdoor exhibits are *OPEN this weekend* but will close starting next week due to State Stay-at-Home Orders. *Our stores will remain OPEN for shopping*, onsite or online (sbnaturestore.org.) Folk & Tribal Arts Marketplace Pop-up Shops are open on weekends at the Museum. Thank you for your support and shopping local!

You’ll meet some curious characters while you scour our campus for clues during Museum Mysteries (Oct 2325 and Oct 30Nov 1). Costumes encouraged! Reservations required: sbnature.org/tickets

You wanted a spider pavilion, right? Good thing, since our Butterfly Pavilion has been taken over by enormous arachnids! Most of the spiders in our region are harmless to humans, but this is an unknown species, so we're leaving the doors locked just in case. Be sure to peek inside as you pass during our Halloween celebration, Museum Mysteries (Oct 2325 and Oct 30Nov 1). Reservations required: sbnature.org/tickets

Calling all kid detectives! Max the Great Horned Owl is missing, and we need your help to find him. Test your feather knowledge this weekend as you solve the mystery. In the Backyard, you can play a game matching feathers to species. Volunteer Manager Rebecca Fagan Coulter had the perfect ensemble for running this activity (not too surprising, since she's a birder extraordinaire). Reservations required: sbnature.org/tickets

2020 was already so surreal that we weren’t fazed at all by decoding invisible messages with a friendly avocado under a giant spiderweb. This is a perfectly natural part of our Museum Mysteries Halloween celebration (Oct 2325 and Oct 30Nov 1). Reservations required: sbnature.org/tickets

During our Museum Mysteries Halloween celebration (Oct 2325 and Oct 30Nov 1), we're doing hourly rocket launches at 45 minutes past each hour. Astronomy Programs Manager Javier Rivera heads our space program. You'll also see him cooking up comets in demonstrations every 15 minutes past the hour! Costumes encouraged; space cadets and aliens fit right in. Just don't be a literal space invader: please be respectful of the space of other guests as you explore our campus. Reservations required: sbnature.org/tickets

Chad the Blue Whale skeleton doesn't need a Halloween costume. He goes as himself every year. However, we've added some seasonally spooky lighting.

Our blacktop is getting a cosmic makeover for Halloween! Planets, nebulae, and more are starting to coalesce around the big oak tree. Teens in the Quasars to Sea Stars work/study/intern program appropriately created a quasar: quasars are extremely high-energy, bright-shining phenomena. Props to the huge team of volunteers and staff from the Museum and Sea Center who have come together to decorate the Museum, with special thanks to Naturalist Tori Andrade, Community Educat...ion Manager Stefanie Coleman, and Teen Programs Manager Jenna Rolle for being the main artistic forces behind this spacescape. It’ll be the first place families stop to gather clues as they investigate Museum Mysteries Oct. 2325 and Oct. 30Nov. 1. Reservations required to visit the Museum: sbnature.org/tickets Visiting during Museum Mysteries? Add a Clue Kit to your order for the tools and clues that will maximize your fun. See more

We just got this new associate curator and he already got eaten by a face hedge. It’s the price we pay for decorating the Museum for Halloween. Incidentally, pareidoilia is the human tendency to see patterns in randomness. We see faces at the drop of a hat. A classic example is the face on Mars, which was subsequently shown to be a mesa that really only looks like a face in low resolution. We’re helping out this mouth-shaped hedge at the Museum with a couple of eyes, which are definitely the work of intelligent beings.

Do you keep odd books just in case they come in handy? Here’s a tale that validates your choice, from Curator of Malacology Daniel L. Geiger, Ph.D.: Each of us in the Collections & Research Center are identification experts in very small areas, and for the rest, we need to rely on books. There is an odd compulsion to purchase books on weird topics whenever we stumble upon them. Take _Crustaceans of Australian Waters_. I have no interest in crabs, really, but saw it some 20... years ago in Australia. Gotta have it. Ever since, it gathered dust and became a running joke in our household. This year, an Australian mystery crab came his way. _Crustaceans of Australian Waters_ to the rescue! It was in the book. Its name was misspelled and a synonymmeaning another name had been applied mistakenly to a species that already had a scientific namebut it gave Geiger the first step to tracking it down. Behold, _Ashtoret lunaris_! Crustaceans of Australian Waters earned its shelf space after all these years. Thanks to Geiger for sharing photos and this story from our collections for your entertainment and edification. See more

Some people love our Giant Squid. Some people think it's creepy. Some people love it _and_ think it's creepy. However you feel about it, we're happy it's on view again, along with most of our indoor spaces. Visit us with reservations only: sbnature.org/tickets

Thank you so much to the Santa Barbara Independent readers who awarded us Best Museum 2020! This is our second year in a row winning Best Museum and it’s especially important to us this year when we haven’t been able to be fully open due to indoor restrictions. We work hard to be creative, dynamic, and accommodating, and this year has really shown our strengths as we navigate ever-changing guidelines and restrictions. This recognition makes all of that hard work worthwhile an...d gives us renewed energy to continue to find creative solutions to connect people to nature for the betterment of both. Of course, in a normal year, there's more competition for this award. Our region supports many outstanding museums, most of which had their operations severely restricted in 2020. We hope to see them coming back stronger as it's safe to reopen; each one serves a valuable role in the community. See more