Santa Monica Pier Aquarium

Heal the Bay Aquarium, which was previously named the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, is a public aquarium in Santa Monica, California, located beneath the Santa Monica Pier, adjacent to the Pacific Ocean. Since 2003, it is operated by Heal the Bay, a nonprofit organization.[1] It was formerly known as the Ocean Discovery Center and was operated by UCLA until 2003.[1]

Heal the Bay Aquarium
The Heal the Bay Aquarium is located beneath the famous Santa Monica Pier.
Date opened1996
LocationSanta Monica, California, USA
Coordinates34°0′37.6″N 118°29′45.4″W
No. of species104
Websitehttps://healthebay.org/aquarium
The California Moray Eel is one of the featured local species on display.
This California Two-Spot Octopus is 3–4 months old.

As Heal the Bay's marine education, advocacy, and community science facility, it is open to the general public and attracts more than 100,000 visitors from around the world per year (approximately 15,000 are students). This facility offers educational programs, activities, and special events dedicated to marine conservation, pollution prevention, and environmental education.

Species on display include:

Chordata

Arthropods

Molluscs

  • California Two-Spot Octopus
  • Red Abalone
  • Chestnut Cowrie
  • Kellet's whelk
  • Giant Keyhole Limpet
  • California Mussel
  • Norris's Top Snail

Echinoderms

  • Bat Star
  • Ochre Sea Star
  • Brittle Star
  • Purple Sea Urchin
  • Sand Dollar
  • California Sea Cucumber

Cnidaria

Octopus incident

In February 2009 the two-spotted octopus managed to manipulate the pipe connection that takes care of draining the water tank. Two hundred gallons of water from the valve flooded the visitor space.[2][3] The event received significant media attention.[4][5]

References
  1. Jenn Garbee; Nancy Gottesman; Stephanie "Tippy" Helper (1 October 2007). Hometown Santa Monica: The Bay Cities Book. Prospect Park Publishing. pp. 26–. ISBN 978-0-9753939-2-5.
  2. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-03-06. Retrieved 2009-03-06.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. Pool, Bob. "Octopus floods Santa Monica Pier Aquarium". L.A. Times. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  4. Borrell, Brendan. "Are octopuses smart?". Scientific American. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  5. Brulliard, Karen. "Octopus slips out of aquarium tank, crawls across floor, escapes down pipe to ocean". The Washington Post. Retrieved 14 April 2016.


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