It has been an exciting year at the Aquarium. In addition to everything we accomplished as a traditional aquarium, we continue to grow as a nationally recognized leader in innovative conservation by connecting science with the arts, technology, and industry to inspire the public and create a better future for our planet. Here is a look back at the top happenings at the Aquarium in 2015.
Best ever attendance and revenue
At our current pace, we are on track for the best attendance year ever. In terms of overall Aquarium revenue, it is up 6 percent year to date over the same period last year.
Connecting the public with current science
The Aquarium created its twelfth and thirteenth shows for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Science on a Sphere® (SOS) in 2015. Fukushima and Our Radioactive Ocean, released in March, and The World’s Water, released in November, were both debuted to the public with live webcasts featuring expert speakers. The Aquarium creates more original content for the SOS than any other institution.
Programming at the Aquarium in 2015 also focused on El Niño, sea level rise, and the ongoing drought in California. In addition to live webcasts with scientists, the Aquarium featured lectures in its Guest Speaker Series on these topics, and educators talked about them during shows and presentations. Aquarium experts were featured regularly in the media discussing the local and global impacts of El Niño and how it affects both marine life and people.
In 2015 the Aquarium held two sessions in its Aquatic Academy series of evening courses for adults. In spring attendees learned about the case for ocean exploration and the future of humans’ relationship with the ocean. In the fall attendees were presented with solutions for meeting the needs of a growing human population and demand for food. They interacted with scientists and experts to learn more about aquaculture’s role in meeting the growing seafood demand, the conservation implications of marine aquaculture, and joined the discussion on what California’s role should be.
As requested by Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia, the Aquarium produced a comprehensive report for City of Long Beach leadership detailing best practices in creating a climate-resilient city. Under the leadership of Aquarium President and CEO Jerry Schubel, the Aquarium is taking a lead role in gathering experts to identify those aspects of climate change to which Long Beach is most vulnerable, assessing the extent of the vulnerabilities and evaluating ways of mitigating and adapting to them. Based upon this analysis, the City will translate the findings into specific strategies and incorporate them into its plan.
The U.S. Department of State partnered with the Aquarium and its Seafood for the Future program to host the only location in the western U.S. for their second annual international Fishackathon in June. The goal of Fishackathon is to solve the growing challenges throughout the seafood supply chain. The event calls for coders to create new applications and tools for mobile devices and phones that will help provide information in real-time to help fishermen work smarter, safer, and more sustainable.
Bringing together science and the arts
The Aquarium commissioned a project that brings art and science together to translate the movement of sea jellies, or jellyfish, into a symphony. The Symphony of Jellies was developed based on an algorithm that tracks the movements of sea jellies and translates them into sounds. The piece had its debut at the Aquarium on December 8. New exhibit components that demonstrate the MoveMusic sonification software were installed at two of the Aquarium’s Jellies exhibits. Webcams installed in the moon jellies exhibit in the Southern California/Baja Gallery and in the lagoon jellies exhibit in the Tropical Gallery broadcast images onto a screen next to the exhibit and play the translated sounds of the jelly movements in real time.
The Aquarium hosted a performance of The Lollygaggers, a comedy theater show about climate change. Written by Rani O’Brien, theater director, and Josh Willis, Ph.D., an oceanographer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory specializing in sea level rise and ocean warming, The Lollygaggers features music, sketch comedy, and puppets.
Gracing the walls of the Great Hall, two photography exhibits from the Annenberg Foundation were exhibited at the Aquarium in 2015. From June 1 to September 15 the Aquarium hosted Sink or Swim: Designing for a Sea Change, an exhibition organized by the Annenberg Space for Photography in Los Angeles. The exhibition examines housing and infrastructure responses to rising seas, coastal flooding, and increasingly powerful storm surges tied to global climate change. The Aquarium also hosted an exhibition of photographs exploring water scarcity and humans’ relationship with water in regions around the world. Opened on October 7,Water: Our Thirsty World features images captured by photographers for National Geographic magazine. The photos examine water as a precious natural resource and document how water scarcity affects threatened and endangered species, agriculture, and people, particularly those living in developing nations. It also focuses on the spiritual relationship with water in cultures around the world. The exhibition was organized by the Annenberg Foundation in Los Angeles in partnership with National Geographic.
Conservation achievements
The Aquarium rehabilitated and released two loggerhead sea turtles. The turtle released in April was the first loggerhead to be fitted and tracked with a satellite tag, allowing researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to learn more about these turtles’ habitat and behavior. The second, Char Char, had a dislocated front flipper that was amputated by the Aquarium’s veterinary staff before its release in November.
Seafood for the Future, the Aquarium’s sustainable seafood program, recently launched public outreach efforts to raise awareness of the vaquita, an endangered small porpoise native to the Gulf of California. These efforts included hosting a panel of experts at the Aquarium as part of its Guest Speaker Series and helping to create a PSA about the vaquita. With fewer than 100 individuals remaining, the vaquita is the most endangered marine mammal in the world.
The Aquarium of the Pacific was the first to be able to successfully reproduce zebra sharks through artificial insemination. In spring one of the zebra shark pups was delivered to another Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) institution as part of the Aquarium’s involvement in AZA’s Species Survival Plan for zebra sharks. The other pup remains in the Shark Lagoon touch pool. Successful births from artificial insemination can further research in helping dwindling shark populations in the wild.
The Aquarium was proud to welcome a new member to the family, Lily, representing the third generation of Aquarium-born Magellanic Penguins. Lily hatched on June 5. Penguins Roxy and Floyd are Lily’s parents, and Heidi, Anderson, and Skipper are her siblings. Magellanic Penguins are threatened and are part of an AZA species survival plan.
The Aquarium was awarded a 2015 Cool Planet Award in the education sector from The Climate Registry and Southern California Edison for its efforts in energy and carbon management. The Cool Planet Award recognizes Southern California Edison business customers for demonstrating exemplary leadership in energy and carbon management within their business size and industry sector.
Visitors learn about ocean life through technology