Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center

Congratulations to Natalia, our volunteer of the month! Natalia has been volunteering at the Sea Center since October 2019 and has contributed over 100 hours of service. Natalia is a superstar interpreter at our Intertidal Wonders exhibit, and brings a smile to the face of every guest who comes her way. We appreciate Natalia’s dedication and passion for educating guests of all ages about the importance of protecting our oceans! Natalia helps out with not just one, but two shifts per week, and regularly volunteers for extra shifts when we need help. She just graduated from San Marcos High School and will be attending Santa Barbara City College in the fall. Congratulations, Natalia! Photo by Juliana Logan

Happy Juneteenth! Join Juneteenth Santa Barbara's celebration with virtual programming at juneteenthsb.org and in-person events including an artisan market and the Melanin gallery featuring local Black artists at 833 State St.

Baby White Abalone, Giant Kelp for scale. It takes time to grow big and strong like our big daddies downstairs at the Sea Center. This juvenile photographed at Aquarium of the Pacific by Jenifer Burney was spawned back in March 2020. We say spawned because born wouldn’t be quite the word, since the egg and sperm that created this individual met in the water and nobody had to give birth. The pale little spiral you see on its butt represents its earliest shell growth. The Sea Center and AOP are proud to be among the many institutions in the White Abalone Restoration Consortium helping to raise endangered White Abalone in captivity to boost their numbers in the wild.

The Sun, Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Earth will be down here with us on the wharf! Stop by today on a cosmic trek...

We know boring clams aren't boring. Can we start calling them "swimming woodpeckers" yet?

Join us Thursday (6/10) afternoon as we stream live from the Sea Center, taking a closer look at marine bivalves with Curator Emeritus of Malacology Paul Valentich-Scott! He wrote the book on bivalvesthree books, actuallyand you won't want to miss this chance to learn about the fascinating and delectable creatures he's studied for the past 45 years. We're particularly excited to have Paul back here on the wharf, since he's one of the experts who've helped inform and design Sea Center exhibits since the early days. This program is free for Naturalist-level Members and up, $5 for other Members, and $10 for non-members. Get tickets here: mysbnature.org/event-d/scallops-oysters-mussels-2021-06-10/

Join us, booklovers! We'll be here this afternoon at Santa Barbara Public Library's Summer Reading Kickoff in Alameda Park. Stop by and check out some cool specimens from Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History's library of life, including the marine animal known as the "wandering meatloaf," whose teeth are made of Santabarbaraite! (We didn't make this up, as our Sea Center interpreters who stay on top of the news will know!) Plus, do you remember the bookmobile? The library has wheels again, debuting at this event.

Did you know that local barnacles are under attack? In today’s local science update, Aidan Murray, one of our fantastic high school students in the SBMNH Quasars to Sea Stars program, tells us the story of a tiny beast that has taken over local barnacle populations and maybe even the whole intertidal zone! Click through this album to learn more!

We recently had a VIP guest who is generous beyond his years: seven-year-old Martin, who donated $200 to the Sea Center! This thoughtful gift is part of an ambitious plan. Martin is working with the Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church to inspire more gifts to support our endangered White Abalone. As part of the White Abalone Restoration Consortium, we work to raise white abs in captivity to aid their wild numbers. As the program expands, so do our equipment needs, so Martin's contribution will really help out. Lead Aquarist Nora Frank and Sea Center Director Rich Smalldon met with Martin and his mother to discuss the history and future of our abalone, including the big daddies downstairs pictured here. If Martin's generosity inspires you, visit sbnature.org/donate Photo by Jose Lobato

Do you need to touch sharks, see seahorses, and get hugs from anemones? We're here for you every day. Starting this week, the Sea Center will be open daily, that's right, every day of the week, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM! So happy to be getting back to full power, step by step. Our sister campus Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is open WedsSun, 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Reservations are required to visit the Museum (sbnature.org/tickets) but down here things are more casual, just walk up to visit the Sea Center.

We need your help! A boat has washed ashore at the Padaro-Sandyland area. Heal the Ocean and MarBorg Industries are onsite working on getting the big pieces but... need help collecting Styrofoam and smaller pieces before they get washed out to sea. If you are available, please head over to help out! THANK YOU!!! Driving/Parking Directions: Exit Santa Claus Lane. Head toward the beach. Go left and park about 100 yards down on the right where the dirt parking lot is located. There is public beach access you can use to head out to the beach and help with cleanup.

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 affirms 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.

Shoutout to Sea Center Volunteer Kevin for his #trashyselfie pics captured while patrolling the beach for marine debris. Although we can't gather for a #beachcleanup together, our volunteers are still protecting the coast, and we're still collecting data that can be used to assess trends and inform policy. Last month, four of our volunteers picked up 581 pieces of trash weighing a total of 108 lbs! You can pitch in, too. Find us on VolunteerMatch volunteermatch.org/search/opp3067607.jsp for information on how to contribute to the collective count.

Do the mysid shrimp boogie with our Giant Pacific Seahorses. In this timelapse, the seahorses are sucking up tiny crustaceans for breakfast. Their lower jaws don't drop like a hinge; they just hoover up tasty tidbits. Seahorses and their close relativespipefish and sea dragonsall have fused jaws. This is reflected in their family name, Sygnathidae, from the Greek _syn_ for "together" and _gnathos_ for "jaw." Thanks to Lead Aquarist Nora Frank for sharing this peek from behind the scenes while the Sea Center is temporarily closed.

When you think tentacles, you probably think octopus and squid. Bivalves (clams, oysters, etc.) have diverse tentacles, too! Bivalve species in various niches have protective and sensory tentacles in different places on their bodies. To learn more about tentacular evolution, biologists in Brazil and Iowa collaborated on a recent study of 108 species of bivalves. Their study supports the idea that where these species' tentacles are arrayed is related to their body position rel...ative to the substrate (the surface they are on). It also supports the idea that convergent evolution has produced tentacles numerous times. Like wings, tentacles are a useful structure which has stuck around after mutations produced it in different lineages. The authors note that "after being gained, tentacles have not been lost." Apparently from a fitness standpoint, they are just as handy as they look! Wait, we almost forgot the best part: the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History is thanked in the acknowledgments; we loaned 34 lots* of specimens to aid this fascinating analysis. Check it out: Audino, J.A., Serb, J.M. & Marian, J.E.A.R. Untangling the diversity and evolution of tentacles in scallops, oysters, and their relatives (Bivalvia: Pteriomorphia). Org Divers Evol (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13127-021-00482-3 *In this context, a "lot" refers to specimen(s) in a single species collected at a single place and time, whether that be a single specimen or hundreds. See more

Join museums across CA in supporting CA’s COVID-19 health guidelines: Wear your mask Keep your distance (6 ft+) Stay home if you’re sick Wash your hands frequently... Share to show your support and tag #MuseumsForMasks! SoCal Museums California Association of Museums See 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!

This week, the Museum and Sea Center will be closed on Thursday, November 26, to give our staff a Thanksgiving holiday. Both campuses will reopen Friday. Our current operating hours Sea Center outdoor exhibits are WedSun, 11:00 AM4:00 PM. Outdoor exhibits at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History are WedSun, 10:00 AM5:00 PM. Indoor exhibits are temporarily closed due to County health orders. Sea Center tickets can be purchased on-site, but reservations are required for the Museum: sbnature.org/tickets

Sea Center outdoor exhibits are open WedSun, 11:00 AM4:00 PM (last entry at 3:30), weather permitting. Indoor exhibits are temporarily closed due to County health orders. At our sister campus, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, outdoor exhibits are open WedSun, 10:00 AM5:00 PM. You can visit us at the Sea Center without a reservation, but if you're planning on visiting the Museum, reservations are required: sbnature.org/tickets

Thanks to everyone who's visited since we safely reopened our indoor spaces, including the Santa Barbara News-Press! We're so happy to be welcoming guests to meet some new animals and revisit old favorites.

Catch up on last week's great Science Pub From Home Abalone: The Remarkable History and Uncertain Future of California's Iconic Shellfish with award-winning author Ann Vileisis. As she explains in this excellent talk, "The story of what happened to abalone is important because it’s part of the heritage of our state. It’s also relevant to the challenges we face today of conserving marine life into the future . . . Everything is connected, and there's a lot at stake. Plus cameo mentions of our friends at White Abalone, and of course, our White Abalone here at the Sea Center!

Our coral reef habitat is brand new, but it still needs a cleanup crew. Emerald Crab _Mithraculus sculptus_ helps out by eating away at some algae growth next to one of our corals. #aquarium video by Aquarist Nora Frank

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 Dr. 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

It's well-documented that Swordfish (_Xiphias gladius_) use their super-long, pointy upper jaw to stun smaller prey by slashing it rapidly side-to-side. Less understood is the idea explored in this recent article: they may sometimes use it to stab significantly larger prey. Although the scientific evidence for this is mounting in recent years as it becomes easier to document this kind of incident, the idea of swordfish taking on larger prey is very old. In traditional Chumash... belief, the swordfish was a powerful figure in the sea, capable of driving whales to the shore (which could feed whole villages). Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History curators John R. Johnson and Jan Timbrook explored this idea back in 1993, with biologist coauthor Demorest Davenport in "The Chumash and the swordfish" published in volume 67, issue 255 of the journal _Antiquity_. In the final section of the article, the authors cited examples from the literature regarding aggressive behavior of swordfish towards cetaceans and other species, and even an attack on the submersible research vessel, Alvin. See more

Remember when a _Mola tecta_ sunfish washed up on the beach at Coal Oil Point Reserve? Another sunfish is causing a big stir, mostly through misunderstandings. Some people mistook its dorsal fin for the sign of a big shark! This article also describes some interesting fish behaviors. The defensive spitting behavior has been observed in connection with this kind of fish's symbiotic relationships. Sunfishes have been known to present their sides (one at a time) to the surface, where gulls and other animals can pick off and eat their parasites. Sunfish expert Dr. Tierney Thys's oceansunfish.org reports that when a cleaning session "gets too rough, the sunfish will simply spit water at its avian assistant and swim out of sight."

Our indoor exhibits are open again! We're so excited to welcome you back. As you follow our one-way flow, check out your old favorites like the Garibaldi, then head upstairs to meet the new Giant Pacific Seahorses. We're operating at reduced capacity to ensure safe distancing, so you might encounter a line out front (sort of like at the grocery store).

Tomorrow is #NationalFossilDay (Weds. October 14), and as lovers of all things marine, we're particularly excited to see Calvert Marine Museum listed in this amazing lineup of fossil collections tours organized by Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology and Western Science Center. Visit youtube.com/alfmuseumpaleo to stream behind-the-scenes views from nine different institutions! Given the importance of marine life to our planet's history, we hope to see specimens of ancient sea life from collections besides Calvert's, too.

This Giant Pacific Seahorse (_Hippocampus ingens_) looks like he's lending a helping tail as we clean his habitat with a siphon tube. "They use their tails primarily for anchoring themselves," explains Aquarist Nora Frank, who captured these photos. "This curious seahorse found an opportunity to anchor himself on a stationary tube." We're looking forward to sharing our seahorses' interesting behaviors with you when we reopen our indoor spaces on October 15.

The numbers are in for #CoastalCleanup Month in Santa Barbara County! Together, we collected a ton of litter. Actually, almost two tons: 3,888.8 pounds, to be precise. Volunteers in the county logged data for 16,605 pieces of trash. The most common items were plastic pieces, cigarette butts, and food wrappers. You can make a difference by picking up litter anywhere, any time of year: "The most important part is picking up the trash and making sure it's put in the proper place," says Volunteer Coordinator Juliana Logan. Participating in the organized cleanup gives you the chance to submit data to inform policymakers, but cleanups in your neighborhood and on the beach have an impact year-round. We hope you're inspired by this month's numbers to keep part of the watershed clean the rest of the year.

Our Chocolate Chip Sea Star (_Protoreaster nodosus_) shows off tube feet at work in this time-lapse video by Aquarist Nora Frank. The galloping motion of those tube feet passes a tasty squid tentacle from the tip of the sea star's arm toward the mouth at the center of its body's underside.

Each visit to our Wet Deck is unique; Sunday's guests got to meet this juvenile Two-Spot Octopus we hauled up from beneath the wharf in a clump of Red-Rust Bryozoans. We released this curious individual back into the sea at the end of the day. Thanks to Aquarist Nora Frank for sharing the video.

Our sale has officially begun! See all of the art for sale via our online store: https://sbmnh-store.myshopify.com/collections/artist-table