Sea Otters, Sharks and Conservation at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Sea Otters, Sharks and Conservation at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
- Registration fee: $45 (lunch included)
- Organizer: Rob Irion, UC Santa Cruz
- Sponsored by: Monterey Bay Aquarium
A view of the three-story living kelp forest at the aquarium.
NOTE: Start and end times given for field trips are the times when the trips depart from and return to the Marriott Marquis San Francisco.
The famed Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of the world’s great centers for marine life exhibits. It is also a respected leader in ocean conservation research, including species such as great white sharks, sea otters and Pacific bluefin tuna. On this daylong tour, journalists will explore the aquarium’s award-winning galleries on the edge of Monterey Bay, featuring jellyfish, sea turtles, the giant “Open Sea” tank with its 27-meter-wide window and a living kelp forest. The group will gather for talks by research scientists about the aquarium’s current projects, including electronic tracking tags to monitor bluefin tuna migration and video tags to reveal the lives of great white sharks. Aquarium scientists work with colleagues in Mexico and Japan on these projects. The aquarium also partners with governments, scientists and businesses around the world in its “Seafood Watch” program to help make global seafood production more sustainable.
Behind-the-scenes care for an orphaned sea otter pup that the Aquarium team rears for return to the wild.
During the field trip, researchers also will discuss their studies of sea otters around the Pacific Rim, especially the critical role that otters play as “engineers” of their habitats along the coast. The aquarium is a leader in rescuing stranded sea otters and helping them recover before returning them to the wild. And, just before the World Conference of Science Journalists, the aquarium will complete its new Ocean Memory Lab. In this lab, scientists will analyze the chemical ingredients in preserved samples of marine life to help reveal the past health of the world’s oceans. The field trip will include a visit to the new lab.
Above: The Monterey Bay Aquarium Open Sea exhibit holds one million gallons of seawater and is home to open ocean animals including tunas, sharks and sea turtles.