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 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.
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Enjoying the Unexpected
The animals on display at the Seaside Aquarium have come from a wide variety
of sources. Very few are collected per year by aquarium staff. More are
brought to the aquarium by various people. We have one eager volunteer
who fishes the estuary and surf regularly and has single-handedly added
hundreds of fish to our displays. Visitors and locals often discover creatures
or egg casings on the beach, bring them in for identification, and then leave
them in our care. And local fishermen not only serve as our primary resource
for octopus, they also are always on the lookout for something unusual.
When an unusual fish is brought in to the aquarium, its chance of survival depends on the depth at which it was
caught and the condition it was in when it arrived. Local fishermen sometimes catch unusual fish on deep-water lines.
Fish that are brought up from the depths sometimes have a difficult time adjusting to salinity and pressure differences
in the water. Tossing them back in the ocean would effectively kill them. They bring the fish to the aquarium so we
can display it, allowing visitors to see a unique creature from the depths. If we can, we offer the animal to other
aquariums that are more equipped to effectively care long-term for these creatures.
In the past few months, the aquarium has seen two fish that are
common in local waters but unusual to our displays: a ratfish and an
electric ray. The ratfish was found in the surf at the cove by visiting
children, a very unusual location considering how deep in the ocean
they live and how sensitive they are to salinity changes. The electric ray
was the first one our General Manager had had on display in more than
ten years. Too large to livelong-term in any of our tanks, its was
transferred to the Oregon Coast Aquarium.
When visiting the aquarium, ask our staff if there is anything new and
exciting on display!
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