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2011 Highlights
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In addition to the everyday work of taking care of
regular displays, maintenance of the aquarium, and
volunteering for the Marine Mammal Stranding network,
Aquarium staff also dealt with a regular dose of unusual
events. Here’s a sampling:
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- Participated in 5th Annual Necanicum Bird Discovery
Day in March and Nehalem Crab Derby Day (a
fundraiser for the Rinehart Clinic) in July.
- Welcomed Greta’s pup, Frankie, born June 7.
- Celebrated Drexler the seal’s 28th birthday June
29.
- Presented the lecture "History of the Seaside Aquarium
and its Involvement in the Community" in
Cannon Beach for the North Coast Land Conservancy’s
Listening to the Land series.
- Ran the Seaside Discovery Program’s 16th year on
the beach and estuary, with 16 program days
through the summer.
- Responded to a variety of strandings including a
humpback whale, a sevengill shark, a salmon shark,
and an orca.
- Collected 576 pounds of food for the local food
bank during the December food drive.
- Volunteered on a Haystack Rock Algae survey.
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Important Beach Safety
1. Never turn your back on the ocean.
Sneaker waves are very powerful, sometimes strong
enough to knock over an adult.
2. Avoid logs in the surf.
They may look stable, but the ocean can roll logs large
enough to crush you.
3. This is not a safe area for swimming
in the ocean.
Be aware there is a strong undercurrent. Children should
be kept within arm’s reach and should go no deeper than
their knees.
4. Completely extinguish your campfires.
Embers can burn for days if left or covered.
5. Leave marine mammals alone.
Marine mammals can carry diseases transmittable to humans.
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Creature Feature: Wolf Eels
Wolf eels (Anarrhichthys ocellatus) have been a mainstay
of Seaside Aquarium displays for seventy-five years.
With their bumpy skin, their large heads, and snaggletoothed
sneers, they look like Muppets gone awry.
They are not considered true eels because they have
pectoral fins. Active as juveniles, they settle down as
adults and spend most of their twenty to thirty year
lives hiding in caves, only emerging to crush crabs,
snails, and sand dollars with their powerful jaws.
Although often viewed as ferocious, they can be very
gentle.
This December, one of our
wolf eels laid eggs. Wolf eels
often pair up around the age
of four, usually mating for
life. However, they do not
reach maturity until closer to
age seven. The pair on display
are four, so although the
female has laid eggs two
years in a row, it will likely be a few years before the
male will fertilize them.
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