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SEASIDE AQUARIUM

FEED THE SEALS

Control the Aquarium Cam!




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About the Seaside Aquarium


When the aquarium was founded in 1937, the goal was mostly to entertain the public. The dark interior was meant to create the feeling of swimming through an ocean cave at a time when respiration-aided diving was virtually unknown.

In the past several years, the focus has shifted to include education and community involvement as well as entertainment. We have reached beyond the walls of the actual building to participate in local events and projects geared toward a better understanding and appreciation of the North Coast marine environment.

In 1995, we became leaders in the regional Marine Mammal Stranding Network. In the next few years we added an Interpretive Center and helped start Seaside’s Watershed Estuary Beach Discovery Program. We have partnered with local businesses, non-profit organizations, and the City of Seaside to inform both visitors and local communities about beach safety, tides, different coastal habitats, and the animals who live there.

Kids at the Touch Tank


Inside the Aquarium


Summer brings a bustle of activities in our tanks. Baby shiner perch are born (live!), and many of our creatures lay eggs. Even the smallest creatures get in on the act.

The opalescent nudibranch (NOOD-eh-brank), also known as Hermissenda crassicornis (herma-SIN-duh CRASS-uh-cornis) grows to only two inches, so it is easy to miss in a tank. However, its amazing neon colors make it a staff favorite. A few of the hermissenda laid eggs in the tanks this summer, producing beautiful spiral patterns along the back walls and along rocks. Many snail-like mollusks lay eggs in a similar spiral pattern. The spirals can look as plain as a random plant growth or as intricate as a spiral of wavy ribbon.

If you see something unusual or interesting in one of the tanks during your visit to the aquarium, ask our interpreter for more information. There are great stories in every tank!

Cleaning gray whale in ocean water.

Unusual Sight: Swimsuits and Gray Whale Parts The Marine Mammal Stranding Network had four extra helpers this summer: Sayeeda, Makenzie, Brianna, and Courtney, middle-schoolers from Beaverton and Scappoose, took time from their day at the beach at Cape Disappointment to wash gray whale baleen while Dr. Debbie Duffield and volunteers performed a necropsy. Note the gloves. Marine Mammals can carry diseases communicable to humans. These girls were under close supervision of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network.


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Stay connected:

  Twitter @FeedTheSeals Facebook @SeasideAquarium
Seaside Aquarium, 200 North Prom, Seaside, Oregon 97138 Tel: (503) 738-6211.