San Francisco is great city to visit. There is loads to do especially in the Pier 39 complex. One of the must-see (and hard to miss) attractions is the Aquarium of the Bay. Located at the junction between The Embarcadero and Beach Street, on the edge of Pier 39, this is a public aquarium featuring some 60,000 marine creatures. The aquarium features 50 different species of shark as well as eels, bat rays, a giant pacific octopus, river otters, rock fish, jelly fish and wrasse. Also, there’s a huge, and very vocal, colony of sea lions outside the aquarium on Pier 39 that you can sit and watch.
The aquarium was first opened in 1996 as Underwater World; in July 2001 it became the Aquarium of the Bay. The aquarium is a not-for-profit organisation. They are part of the Bay Ecotarium, a group of six institutes focused on protecting, restoring and inspiring conservation of San Francisco Bay.
Famous People and the Aquarium
The famous San Franciscan-based marine artist and conservationist, Wyland, produced all of the murals for the relaunched aquarium.
Wyland is also famous for his artwork on the hull of the new Norwegian Cruise Line ship Norwegian Bliss, that we recently spent time on.
Norwegian Bliss will visit the port of San Francisco (on October 3, 2018) on her way back from Alaska, becoming the biggest ship ever to visit the city.
The aquarium also features a series of statues and memorials of people who have contributed to marine biology, such as Jacques Cousteau (the French pioneer of the aqua lung) and Sylvia Earle, the famous US marine biologist and pioneer.
The Exhibits
The aquarium is a great place to get up close and even hands on with a variety of marine life. You can feed sharks, visit behind the scenes on an access all areas tour (additional cost), dissect a squid with an expert to learn its biology, and even stick your head in a 360-degree glass dome to view the fish.
Best of all, there are two acrylic tunnels offering the best view of the marine animals on display. The Aquarium is divided into three areas for visitors.
Discover the Bay
This exhibit showcases the marine life in the immediate Bay area. There are a variety of satellite tanks containing creatures such as moray eels, anchovies, rockfish, monkey faced eels, perch, decorator crabs, Dungeness crab, urchins, garibaldi (the California state marine fish), jellyfish and much more.
Under the Bay
Under the Bay is the aquarium’s largest exhibit. The 300 feet (91 m) of acrylic tunnels feature thousands of sharks, fish and other sea creatures such as jelly fish, urchins, sea horses and squid. The exhibit provides a view of what marine life out in the Bay is like.
At regular intervals there are talks by the keepers – the shark talk was particularly interesting, especially as they swam over you as you learned about them!
Touch the Bay
The Touch the Bay exhibit lets visitors touch several types of animals including bat rays, skates, leopard sharks, sea stars, anemones, and sea cucumbers. There are also terrestrial animals such as frogs, toads, newts, snakes, and skinks.
You must be careful not to be too rough, be gentle.
Sculptures
The Aquarium of the Bay is also hosting ‘Ocean Pioneers’, a sculptural series by the artist Viktor. The granite sculptures each weigh 2,000 pounds and it is hoped they will inspire younger generations to explore, love, and conserve the world’s oceans. These were originally designed for Google to promote their Google Ocean product. The art is on loan from Deep Ocean Exploration Research (DOER). The ‘Ocean Pioneers’ include: Carl Brashear, “U.S. Navy Diver”; Lloyd Bridges, “Bridge to the Oceans”; Jacques-Yves Cousteau, “Technician”; Jean-Michel Cousteau, Navigator”; Philippe Cousteau, “Spirit of Thalassa”; Sylvia Earle, “Her Deepness”; Phil Nuytten, “Knight of the Ocean”; Zale Parry, “Always Gracious”; Ron and Valerie Taylor, “Shark Masters”; Stan Waterman, “Man with a Camera”; and Hans and Lotte Hass, “The Pioneers.
Our Highlights
Our recent visit had several highlights. Toby loved dissecting and learning about the squid. I loved the tunnels and viewing the sharks. Tracey loved the jellyfish displays and the virtual reality green screen 3D photo exhibit. Here you get a photo against a marine background and the Aquarium will e-mail the images to you.
Millie-Mae loved the otter and wanted to take it home. We all enjoyed watching the sea lions outside on Pier 39.
Sea Lion Center at Pier 39
The Pier 39 sea lions are world famous. But why are they there? In October 1989, shortly after the Loma Prieta earthquake, some sea lions suddenly took a liking to the Pier’s K-dock, relocating from their former ‘Seal Rock’ home. By early 1990 they had taken over the dock and were making themselves heard. The Marine Mammal Centre in San Francisco, who are dedicated to sea mammal rescue and care, advised that they could not be moved.
Since then, with plentiful food and the protection of the Pier, their numbers have grown massively. November 2009 recorded a record number of 1,701 animals. They come and go as they please and their numbers vary seasonally from zero to many hundreds as they hunt for anchovies and herring. The Sea Lion Center looks after the sea lion population and provides education on conservation and their natural history.
The Aquarium of the Bay is really education. Most tourists visiting San Francisco will find themselves on a boat tour – whether they go to Alcatraz, or book onto the Bridge to Bridge tour …visiting the Aquarium gives you a great insight into what might be under the boat you’re in! Go and enjoy, it’s a really good attraction ?
