 | - (07/24/2024 03:00:56 pm)
A ‘storm of gulls’ swarming and gliding gracefully, wings caressed by the morning breeze. Did you notice? They are uncharacteristically silent. Many of them were young, still sporting the mottled plumage that is indicative of juveniles. A storm of yearlings, just enjoying the peace that comes from the early hours of morning before the humans run amuck. |
| | - (07/20/2024 09:24:37 pm)
Do you love foraging but need a little guidance? Check out Shifting Tides summer workshops. Not only is Alanna amazing, but she is full of knowledge and you are guaranteed to have a blast. To sign up for one of her workshops, visit www.shiftingtidesnw.com |
 | - (07/20/2024 12:03:04 am)
A juvenile blue heron visited the aquarium yesterday. He was pretty unhappy with his stay, as you can tell, but the Wildlife Center of the Northcoast sent a volunteer immediately and he was on his way. Good luck little buddy!
The great blue heron may not be the first animal you would expect to see down on the beach, but low tide can be an optimal hunting time for this regal bird.
A heron will scout out a quiet place to seek it prey and use its impeccable eyesight to scan the nooks and crannies of a tidepool for any movement. When a potential snack is spotted, the heron will freeze and stand like a rigid sentry over the pool. The unmoving heron will wait patiently, often for many minutes at a stretch, until its prey drops its guard and moves into range of its sharp beak. Herons are not terribly picky and will eat a variety of intertidal fish including sculpins, pricklebacks and even medium-size flounder. They may also consume frogs, salamanders, turtles, snakes, rodents, and even small birds. Great blue herons can be seen along the Oregon Coast year-round. |
 | - (07/12/2024 11:27:12 pm)
We were happy to assist in the rescue of a brown pelican and a juvenile cormorant. The brown pelican had a broken wing and was near the life guard tower when the Wildlife Center of the North Coast called and asked if we could capture the little guy. Then this morning while we were working on the beach, we came across a juvenile cormorant in need of some TLC. Both are now safely in the hands of the caring and loving staff of the Wildlife Center of the North Coast. Good luck little guys! |
 | - (07/05/2024 03:19:52 pm)
Seaside Aquarium added an event! |
 | - (07/05/2024 03:19:52 pm)
Seaside Aquarium added an event! |
 | - (07/04/2024 07:32:18 pm)
Wishing you a happy and safe 4th of July! |
 | - (07/04/2024 07:29:49 pm)
Wishing you a safe and happy 4th of July! |
 | - (07/03/2024 09:23:28 pm)
Seaside Aquarium added an event! |
 | - (06/30/2024 11:45:03 pm)
Mark your calendar for July 6th! The day begins at 9:00 a.m. for our monthly beach cleanup, Treasure the Beach. After the long holiday week this will be one of the most important beach cleanups of the year. To register for the cleanup visit; SOLVE | Treasure the Beach (solveoregon.org) We will also have the pleasure of hosting author Sara Behrman. She will be introducing her new children’s book “The Sea Hides a Seahorse”. Directly after the cleanup she will be doing a special Storytime at the Seaside Public Library from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Then from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. we will be running the first Seaside Beach Discovery Program of the season. It will be an action packed; fun filled day! |
 | - (06/30/2024 12:16:06 am)
There is always a selfie queen in every bestie pair. Miss Bumbleberry is THAT fish. |
 | - (06/26/2024 10:36:27 pm)
Seaside Aquarium added an event! |
 | - (06/25/2024 05:41:55 pm)
The early bird gets the .. skate egg casing!
There was an early morning surprise waiting at the back door this morning. The locals know to bring buckets with them on their low tide beach walks, and exactly where to put them for us to get the critters taken care of immediately. |
 | - (06/24/2024 11:27:02 pm)
The closer you zoom into a rockfish’ face, the more you can relate. Mondays... |
 | - (06/23/2024 10:53:02 pm)
The beautiful Pagurus granosimanus, or Grainy Hermit Crab, is a personal favorite of the intertidal hermits for obvious reasons. When freshly molted, the blue of their bodice is electric, and the orange (sometimes red) antennae- striking. They’re a particularly shy hermit, preferring to retract fully into the shell, but a little bit of water entices them to show off their colors. |
 | - (06/22/2024 03:39:08 pm)
Ahhhh….. and all is right again on the Prom |
 | - (06/21/2024 06:47:21 pm)
An update on the ongoing research regarding the Hoodwinker Sunfish.
As you may know by now, Monday June 3rd, a Sunfish washed up on the beach in Gearhart. We received a call on Wednesday from Christina Dargan on behalf of her very good friend Marianne Nyegaard, requesting samples in case the massive fish was gone when she arrived on our side of the Pacific. You see, it just so happens that she would be travelling down to visit her best friend in Seattle, WA the very same week from her home in New Zealand, and this was no ordinary Mola Mola, but a Mola Tecta. Marianne is actually THE Marine Biologist who first identified the distinction in 2017!
They drove down from Seattle on Saturday, and immediately upon their arrival Marianne launched into her natural educator mode. The crowd was spellbound by her obvious passion and knowledge, she answered every question with description, detail and eagerness as she prepared to take the ovary. The ovary is an important organ in the study of this subspecies because there is virtually nothing known about the Mola from incubation to adulthood.
Thank you to Marianne Nyegaard for being so willing and eager to share your passion and knowledge with everyone and allowing us to be even a little part of this very cool expedition. We feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to witness, and be a part of, the largest Mola Tecta to be sampled so far.
The fish is currently still on the beach and today we headed back up to it to get some more samples but this time they are for Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution Marine Chemistry Department. They are looking at mercury stable isotopes to understand mercury uptake and bioaccumulation in fish, and since sunfish live at the very surface of the ocean, they serve as an excellent proxy for understanding mercury exposure from anthropogenic deposition to marine waters. |
 | - (06/19/2024 10:36:13 pm)
Join Friends of Haystack Rock July 1st through July 4th for this wonderful event. Seaside Aquarium staff will be down at Haystack Rock answering questions about these iconic birds. Binoculars and scopes will be set up to help you view all of the sea and shorebirds that are currently at the Rock. |
 | - (06/07/2024 12:37:06 am)
You’ve heard of an ocean sunfish, but have you heard of the hoodwinker sunfish? On June 3rd a 7.3-foot (221cm) hoodwinker sunfish washed ashore on Gearhart beach, just north of Seaside, Oregon. Initially this large, strange looking fish was creating quite a stir on social media and though it was stormy folks were flocking to the beach to see this unusual fish. It wasn’t long before news of this fish reached Mariann Nyegaard, a researcher based in New Zealand. The photographs she saw indicated that this might not be a run of the mill ocean sunfish (Mola mola) but a different species that she was very familiar with, the hoodwinker sunfish (Mola tecta). It was through her research that she discovered and described this new species of sunfish, which she published in 2017. Dubbed a new species hiding in plain sight, it was genetic sampling and eventual observation that contributed to its finding. Originally thought to only occupy the temperate waters of the southern hemisphere, that theory would be challenged as a few have recently washed ashore in California and one as far north as Alaska. This fish, hiding in plain sight, has most likely been seen/washed ashore in the Pacific Northwest before but was mistaken for the more common, Mola mola. Marianne Nyegaard reached out to the Seaside Aquarium to see if they would be willing to take samples for genetics. Staff quickly responded, took more photographs, measurements, and tissue samples. Through photographs, Marianne confirmed that it was a hoodwinker and that this may be the largest specimen ever sampled.
This fish is still on Gearhart beach and will probably remain for a few more days, maybe weeks as their tough skin makes it hard for scavengers to puncture. It is a remarkable fish and the aquarium encourages people to go see it for themselves. |
 | - (06/05/2024 08:45:20 pm)
We have had a busy week. A 33.6-foot male humpback whale washed ashore on the south end of Manzanita beach on 5.27.24. A necropsy revealed that it likely died of a boat strike. To read more visit: Research Team Completes Necropsy of Humpback Whale that Washed Ashore Near Nehalem Bay State Park; Cause of Death Likely Vessel Strike (tillamookcountypioneer.net). Treasure the Beach, our monthly beach cleanup was well attended. A big thanks to everyone who participated. With your help we were able to remove a little over 220 pounds of trash off of the beach. We also participated in the Nehalem Bay Crab Derby raising money for the Mudd Nick Foundation, a non-profit for Children in Tillamook County. Lastly, a large sunfish has washed ashore on Gearhart Beach. Stay tuned for that story, as we are looking into identifying the exact species. Chances are that it is not a Mola mola but a newly described species Mola tecta. |
 | - (05/30/2024 11:47:06 pm)
Remember when we picked up that rope off the beach covered in mussels and brought it back to the aquarium to discover all these baby sea stars thriving in between the mussels last April (2023)? The sea stars have been growing with a little method we like to call ‘love them and leave them'. We put them in a tank with the mussels and left them to do their thing. Look how they've grown!
📸 Allysa Casteel/Seaside Aquarium |
 | - (05/25/2024 09:11:02 pm)
How is it May 25th, 2024 already? Today marks the Seaside Aquarium's 87th anniversary. On May 25th, 1937 we opened our doors for the first time. Thank you all for your support throughout the years.
Looking at the aquarium from the beach in 1937, there was a lunch bar in the south-west corner of the building (the present site of the gift shop). In 1938, apartments were added upstairs. They were called the Sea Water Apartments. The Seaside Aquarium now provided homes for both aquatic and human specimens. The Sea Water Apartments were closed in the early 1970’s. Some of the apartments are still there but are no longer used. In 1976 the building was re-sided and the Sea
Water Apartment windows were removed and covered. Some of the original apartment windows are now in the Butterfield Cottage on 5th Avenue. In 1998, the aquarium acquired a 36-foot Gray whale skeleton from Fort Steven’s State Park. Wanting everyone to be able to view this giant whale, a display was built so that it was visible from the street and prom. The Seaside Aquarium is the oldest privately owned aquarium west of the Mississippi. The owners and staff of the aquarium would like to thank you for your support throughout the years. Without you, the Seaside Aquarium could not have been successful for so many generations. |
 | - (05/25/2024 12:02:04 am)
Great low tides for Memorial Day weekend!
Saturday 8:45 a.m. -1.0
Sunday 9:26 a.m. -1.0
Monday 10:10 a.m. -0.9
Let's see your tidepool photos... |
 | - (05/23/2024 12:43:40 am)
Seaside Aquarium added an event! |
 | - (05/22/2024 11:14:08 pm)
Deadly but beautiful, sea anemones are the flowers of the sea. |
Harbor Seal
Pipefish
Giant Pacific Octopus
Red Eyed Medusa
Spiny Lumpsucker
