Monterey Bay Aquarium newsletter/release

Sea Notes
June 2006

1. EXHIBIT NEWS: LAST CHANCE TO SEE NEW ORLEANS PENGUINS,
SEA GOOSEBERRIES RETURN

This weekend (May 20 and 21) is your last chance to see our
friends from the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New
Orleans. The 19 penguins and two sea otters will leave from
Oakland for Louisiana Monday morning (May 22) via a special
FedEx charter flight. The penguins are with our resident colony
in “Splash Zone”; Emma the sea otter is with our exhibit otters,
while the male, Buck, is behind the scenes. We’ve thoroughly
enjoyed having these animals here and wish them all the best.
They’ll be back in the public eye when the New Orleans aquarium
reopens on May 26.

Sea gooseberries are back in the Drifters gallery. Our aquarists
recently collected these graceful, glowing living orbs for the
first time in a year. No one has yet solved the mystery of the
life cycle for any type of comb jelly (although we’re trying hard),
so we take opportunities to collect them from the wild. It’s
been nearly a year since they were last seen in Monterey Bay.

Visit What’s New on our web site to learn about these and other
new arrivals in our exhibits.
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/news/

2. ON THE WEB: TAKE ACTION FOR THE OCEANS, OFFICIAL EXPLORERS
JOURNALS

For everyone who’s wanted to get more active in protecting the
oceans and ocean wildlife like sea otters, sharks and sea turtles,
we’ve just launched an expanded Take Action section of our web
site at http://www.oceanaction.org. You can get information about
the aquarium’s top conservation priorities, join our Ocean Action
Team to get email alerts about when to speak out on key issues,
and find more background on what’s going on with the health of
the oceans.

We’ve also added a new element to our Year of Exploring pages:
online journals posted by Kelsey Carlson and Erik Kreeger, our
two Official Explorers, detailing their adventures during
Exploration weekends at the aquarium. You can read what they’ve
been up to, and learn about upcoming Exploration weekends like
Deep Sea Days on June 10-11 by visiting:
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/vi/vi_aquarium/officialexplorer.asp

3. AQUARIUM NEWS: TWO AWARDS FOR OCEAN’S EDGE

Our colleagues with the American Association of Museums gave two
MUSE awards for use of media and technology to our Ocean’s Edge
galleries for the Tide Pool Olympics and Real-Cost Cafe exhibits.
Both exhibits use interactive displays to communicate conservation
messages in engaging ways.

Tide Pool Olympics (a Silver MUSE winner) is a virtual tide pooling
adventure for up to four people that teaches proper tide pooling
etiquette, such as picking up trash, treading lightly on sensitive
areas and leaving animals in their tide pool homes. Players can
“win” gold, silver and bronze medals depending on how carefully they
explore.

The Real-Cost Cafe earned an honorable mention for letting visitors
use touch-screen menus to “serve up” seafood dishes while a video
chef, waitress and waiter comment on whether or not the seafood is
sustainable. It’s all set inside a 1950s-style wharfside diner.

You can see the exhibits when you visit. In the meantime, try
creating your own tide pool online with our Tide Pool game,
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/lc/kids_place/tidepool/tidepool.asp

And learn more about making smart seafood choices on our
Seafood Watch pages, http://www.seafoodwatch.org

4. PROMOTIONS & EVENTS: COOKING FOR SOLUTIONS, DEEP SEA DAYS,
JAZZ CLUB AT THE AQUARIUM, “AQUARIUM ADVENTURES” BEGIN

Cooking for Solutions
May 19-20, Friday-Saturday
You can still get tickets for our fabulous food and wine events,
featuring celebrity chefs, sustainable seafood, organic farm
products and wines. We honor national chef-of-the-year Rick Bayless
and welcome nearly a dozen top North American chefs for our gourmet
gala, cooking demonstrations, and food and wine adventures. Details
and ticket information at http://www.cookingforsolutions.org

Deep Sea Days
June 10-11, Friday-Saturday
Discover the secrets of some denizens of the deep when you meet
experts who study them in the wild and others who create the
technology to explore ocean depths few of us can imagine. Scientists
and engineers from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute will
be here, showing off some of their latest discoveries and tricks of
the trade. You might even win an exclusive tour of their amazing
research facilities!
http://www.mbayaq.org/vi/vi_aquarium/vi_aq_promotions.asp

Aquarium Adventures Summer Programs Begin
June 17, Saturday
Two of our most popular summer “Aquarium Adventures” programs kick
off on Saturday, June 17 – “Underwater Explorers” surface SCUBA for
kids and the “Science Under Sail” research adventure on Monterey Bay.
Make your reservations now for a splashingly fun summer adventure!
http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/vi/vi_aquarium/vi_aq_adventures.asp

Jazz Club at the Aquarium
June 17, Saturday
Travel back to a bygone era when jazz was hot, the musicians were
cool and the joints were jumpin’. Sultry Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot
Skillet Lickers – one of the top swing and jump blues bands in the
United States – headline this year's "Jazz Club at the Aquarium,”
the annual magical musical event set amid our exhibits.
http://www.mbayaq.org/vi/vi_events/vi_events_jazz.asp

Visit Special Promotions and Events for more information.
http://www.mbayaq.org/vi/vi_aquarium/vi_aq_promotions.asp

Check our online calendar for details and more events.
http://www.mbayaq.org/vi/vi_aquarium/vi_aq_calendar.asp

5. CONSERVATION IN ACTION: TRACKING BLUEFIN TUNA

Sleek, athletic and built for speed, Pacific bluefin tuna in the
Outer Bay exhibit offer aquarium visitors a rare opportunity to
view what curator Chuck Farwell calls “one of the planet’s most
highly evolved fishes.” Through the Tagging of Pacific Pelagics
(TOPP) program, bluefin tuna also offer Stanford University and
Monterey Bay Aquarium researchers a view into the vast and poorly
understood open-ocean world they inhabit. How do scientists follow
their long-distance journey and what are they learning about their
movements and behavior? You can find out by visiting the TOPP web
site: http://www.toppcensus.org

6. FREE OFFERS: SHARK POSTER, "Big Red" WALLPAPER

This month’s Sea Notes specials are a free shark poster and
wallpaper of the giant deep sea jelly nicknamed “Big Red,”
discovered by researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research
Institute.
http://www.mbayaq.org/vi/vi_seanotes/vi_seanotes_specials.asp
*******
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a non-profit institution. Our
mission is to inspire conservation of the oceans. You can support
our many education programs and marine research projects by:

- Becoming a member or making an online donation.
http://www.mbayaq.org/md/

- Sending a conservation-oriented electronic postcard to friends.
http://www.mbayaq.org/efc/efc_se/se_vwl_help.asp

We welcome your thoughts and comments.
(equarist@mbayaq.org)





Monterey Bay Aquarium, 886 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA 93940

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