Located on the San Francisco, California, waterfront at Pier 39, the Aquarium of the Bay is an Association of Zoos and Aquariums accredited facility housing over 20,000 aquatic animals, most of which call the San Francisco Bay home. The pier is a busy tourist spot, known for the abundance of California sea lions in its marinas, making it a fitting location to see marine wildlife. For 20 years, the aquarium has been giving visitors a chance to interact with ocean life while learning about ways to preserve natural habitats.
History
The Aquarium of the Bay was first opened in 1996 as UnderWater World, containing a fraction of the animals it showcases today. After years of falling ticket sales, the aquarium changed ownership in 2001 and expanded, changing its name to the Aquarium of the Bay. The aquarium was acquired in 2009 by the nonprofit organization Bay Institute, shifting its focus to research, conservation, and education. In 2017, the aquarium was named a Smithsonian affiliate, the only dedicated aquarium in California to hold that designation.
The aquarium has three main sections included in the general admission: Discover the Bay, Under the Bay, and Touch the Bay. Each section offers a unique collection animals and experiences for visitors. Behind-the-scenes tours and shark feeding experiences are available for an additional charge.
Discover the Bay: Eight animal habitats can be explored in this section, which aims to educate visitors about ecosystems. Large tanks showcase eels, pipefish, anchovies, skates, and other bay natives. The first habitat tank, named Beauties of the Bay, houses some of the area’s most colorful residents. Visitors can watch as vibrant orange Garibaldi fish, California’s official state marine fish, and bright-colored rockfish swim by, creating a whirlwind of color. A nearby habitat tank serves as a nursery where a variety of newly hatched fish swim and grow.
Under the Bay: With 300 feet of tunnels, this section is the aquarium's largest and most famous. The underwater journey begins with a jellyfish exhibit, featuring two large tanks, one for the stinging Pacific sea nettles and one for moon jellies, which have been cultured at the aquarium since 1998. The exhibit is set with ambient lighting so that visitors can watch as the jellyfish drift through the water.
The Near Shore exhibit is a clear tunnel tank that visitors can walk through for an up-close look at the animals that live in the Bay’s shallow waters. A recreation of the Bay’s waters at depths of 10 to 15 feet, the tunnel houses a large variety of species. Sea bass, sea stars, anchovies, rockfish, and giant Pacific octopuses swim overhead on the journey through this large tunnel.
The Deep Water exhibit tank, like the deepest waters of the bay itself, is home to five different sharks. The sevengill shark, the Bay’s largest predator, swims alongside visitors as they walk through the tunnel, along with the leopard shark, soupfin shark, Pacific angelshark, and spiny dogfish.
Touch the Bay: The aquarium’s most interactive section features touch tanks and a lab to explore. The exhibit’s tanks hold skates, sea stars, and bat rays for visitors to greet hands-on as they swim past. The estuary tank allows visitors to touch bones and fossils as they learn more about the marshes and mudflats of the Bay Area. Inside the lab, scientists lead visitors in discussions and interactions with animals such as snakes, hedgehogs, and skinks that call the Bay area home.
Conservation and Education
Giant Pacific octopuses, highly intelligent animals that are known to be able to solve puzzles, are a highlight of the animal collection and represent the aquarium's commitment to the conservation of the Bay. The octopuses prey on crabs in the wild, which can cause them to become caught in crabbing nets. Often, they eat all the crabs caught in the net with them before being killed by the fishing crew, harming both the fishers’ endeavors and the health of the Bay’s habitat. As a result, the Aquarium of the Bay has set up an outreach program to work with fishers and crabbers to buy the octopuses when they are caught. This program saves the octopuses from harm and allows the public a look at these giant creatures.
The aquarium, as part of the nonprofit Bay.org, works all year round to clean the beaches and waterfront. Their efforts serve to conserve resources, protect animals, promote sustainable seafood, reduce plastic pollution, and improve shoreline health. In addition, the aquarium and the Bay Institute co-sponsor the Coast and Ocean Film and Lecture Series, highlighting issues affecting the Bay. This series, like all educational programs presented by the aquarium, aims to empower the public to protect the Bay and all the life that depends on it.
Embarcadero and Beach St, San Francisco, CA 94133, Phone: 415-623-94133, website
