Birch Aquarium Birch Aquarium

next-gen digital displays
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Electronic signage, yippee :rolleyes:

It's interesting that they're overhauling that part of the building, I've always thought it's pretty good as it is now. I can see the benefit of expanded viewing windows though, I often have to stand around waiting a lot to look at particular enclosures. There's a really sizable fish collection, so hopefully they don't lose too many with this change.

“While Living Seas is being renovated, there will still be plenty to see and do at Birch Aquarium,” said Helling. “In addition to our beloved Little Blue Penguins, Weedy Seadragons and Leopard Sharks, we will be opening Embodied Pacific, continuing our popular events like Oceans at Night, and launching a series of exciting new guest experiences.”
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While I definitely support the aquarium and hope they still get decent attendance during this reno, as someone who has been a few times I feel obligated to say this for forum members: Hall of Fishes is the main part of the aquarium and hosts the lion's share of its collection... so as far as live animals go, anyone planning on visiting between October and next summer can expect to see:
  • The penguins (still a big draw, only Little Blues on the West Coast)
  • Some smaller sharks and rays
  • All the seahorses (several species, including the Weedy)
  • Touch pools
  • A handful of tropical fish
 
Coelacanth18 said:
Electronic signage, yippee :rolleyes:

It's interesting that they're overhauling that part of the building, I've always thought it's pretty good as it is now. I can see the benefit of expanded viewing windows though, I often have to stand around waiting a lot to look at particular enclosures. There's a really sizable fish collection, so hopefully they don't lose too many with this change.



While I definitely support the aquarium and hope they still get decent attendance during this reno, as someone who has been a few times I feel obligated to say this for forum members: Hall of Fishes is the main part of the aquarium and hosts the lion's share of its collection... so as far as live animals go, anyone planning on visiting between October and next summer can expect to see:
  • The penguins (still a big draw, only Little Blues on the West Coast)
  • Some smaller sharks and rays
  • All the seahorses (several species, including the Weedy)
  • Touch pools
  • A handful of tropical fish
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Do you happen to know if their Pair of Scythe Butterflyfishes (Prognathodes falcifer) are apart of the list of things still on view? They should be the only pair of the species on exhibit anywhere in the world. I'll be in San Diego at the end of November and with the hall of Fishes being closed now, this species is kind of the only draw for me at the moment
 
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
Do you happen to know if their Pair of Scythe Butterflyfishes (Prognathodes falcifer) are apart of the list of things still on view? They should be the only pair of the species on exhibit anywhere in the world. I'll be in San Diego at the end of November and with the hall of Fishes being closed now, this species is kind of the only draw for me at the moment
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I believe they were in the the hall of fishes, I think I saw them there and they were quite active.
 
USZOOfan42 said:
I believe they were in the the hall of fishes, I think I saw them there and they were quite active.
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Dang that's unfortunate, I'll have to try and contact someone to see if they're still on public display. Kind of crazy only 1 Aquarium displays them at all even though they're found in San Diego waters at diving depths with no collection restrictions AFAIK. Also fun fact: The pair at Birch have been there for 24 years

I should also mention that the Aquarium's Ornate Boxfish Pair (Aracana ognata) should still be on display since they're right next to the Weedy Sea Dragons, a real gem for the rare fish nerds like myself
 
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Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
Dang that's unfortunate, I'll have to try and contact someone to see if they're still on public display. Kind of crazy only 1 Aquarium displays them at all even though they're found in San Diego waters at diving depths with no collection restrictions AFAIK. Also fun fact: The pair at Birch have been there for 24 years

I should also mention that the Aquarium's Ornate Boxfish Pair (Aracana ognata) should still be on display since they're right next to the Weedy Sea Dragons, a real gem for the rare fish nerds like myself
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Hopefully they are still present after the renovation. The scythe butterflyfish used to be featured on the logo of the aquarium and is sort of a mascot since the Scripps Institute for Oceanography played a part in their discovery, so they would probably reserve a spot for them.
There are likely 3-4 scythe butterflyfish in captivity currently, from 4 individuals 2 were kept by the Birch Aquarium and 2 were permanently loaned to the Denver downtown aquarium, with at least 1 being signed in 2022 in a Baja California themed tank with popeye catalufa, a grouper species barberfish and yellowtail surgeonfish.
 
splendens said:
Hopefully they are still present after the renovation. The scythe butterflyfish used to be featured on the logo of the aquarium and is sort of a mascot since the Scripps Institute for Oceanography played a part in their discovery, so they would probably reserve a spot for them.
There are likely 3-4 scythe butterflyfish in captivity currently, from 4 individuals 2 were kept by the Birch Aquarium and 2 were permanently loaned to the Denver downtown aquarium, with at least 1 being signed in 2022 in a Baja California themed tank with popeye catalufa, a grouper species barberfish and yellowtail surgeonfish.
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Matt Wandell from Monterey Bay told me that when he visited Denver last year, they weren't there unfortunately. He also said an aquarist from Birch put out a message asking if any other Aquariums had them in collection but he got no response. Hopefully the Denver ones are just somewhere BTS or very reclusive, would hate to have heard that they passed away
 
NAIB Volunteer said:
Scripps announced today that their Hall of Fishes exhibit will close in September for the largest renovation in its history. In its place, a new Living Seas exhibit complete with three Pacific zones: Pacific Northwest, Coastal California, and Tropical Pacific. The new space will open summer 2025.

Birch Aquarium Announces Living Seas Transformation
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The Aquarium has been posting a lot of construction progress on their socials which has been pretty cool to see. (Here is an early look at the Pelagic Tank)
There was also this updated article they put out earlier this month that shows some of the concept work for a couple of the new exhibits. A lot of the animals are mis-matched / don't line up with what will probably be the actual inhabitants of the tanks, but from what I can see, these species are the most likely to end up actually being on exhibit:
Pelagic Tank:
  • Loggerhead Sea Turtle (the aquarium's resident turtle who already lives at the aquarium)
  • Northern Anchovies (in the artwork)
  • Pacific Bonito(?) (In the artwork, but considering the tank size I'd imagine they'll be juveniles)
  • ^ They could also be California Yellowtail, which the aquarium already keeps
Scripps Pier Tank:
  • Horn Shark (in the artwork) (also already lives in the touchpool area)
  • California Round Ray (in the artwork)
  • Thornback Ray (in the artwork)
  • various anemones
  • California Spiny Lobster tank to the right it looks like (also already lives in the touchpool area)
Mangrove Tank:
  • Banded Archerfish (in the artwork) (already kept at the aquarium)
  • Silver Monos (in the artwork) (already kept at the aquarium)
  • Epaulette Shark (in the artwork)
  • There are also Upside Down Jellies and Blue Blubber Jellies in the mangrove tank artwork for some reason, those will probably be in the jelly gallery portion
There is also a Squid (spiny lobster tank) and Cuttlefish (mangrove tank) depicted which is odd but Cuttlefish are probably pretty likely, something like the Dwarf Cuttlefish which are pretty common wouldn't be surprising. They do have a California Two-Spot Octopus who also lives in the touchpool area so that could also be what the Squid represents (odd choice), maybe it'll get it's own tank in the California Coastal Habitats area.
The other fish in the artwork are either Freshwater species or I can't really ID. There have been no artwork photos or construction videos of the "Octopus Grotto", "Jellies Gallery", "Coral Reefs", or already existing Kelp Forest Tank which I'd imagine they could do some touch ups on.
 
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Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
The Aquarium has been posting a lot of construction progress on their socials which has been pretty cool to see. (Here is an early look at the Pelagic Tank)
There was also this updated article they put out earlier this month that shows some of the concept work for a couple of the new exhibits. A lot of the animals are mis-matched / don't line up with what will probably be the actual inhabitants of the tanks, but from what I can see, these species are the most likely to end up actually being on exhibit:
Pelagic Tank:
  • Loggerhead Sea Turtle (the aquarium's resident turtle who already lives at the aquarium)
  • Northern Anchovies (in the artwork)
  • Pacific Bonito(?) (In the artwork, but considering the tank size I'd imagine they'll be juveniles)
  • ^ They could also be California Yellowtail, which the aquarium already keeps
Scripps Pier Tank:
  • Horn Shark (in the artwork) (also already lives in the touchpool area)
  • California Round Ray (in the artwork)
  • Thornback Ray (in the artwork)
  • various anemones
  • California Spiny Lobster tank to the right it looks like (also already lives in the touchpool area)
Mangrove Tank:
  • Banded Archerfish (in the artwork) (already kept at the aquarium)
  • Silver Monos (in the artwork) (already kept at the aquarium)
  • Epaulette Shark (in the artwork)
  • There are also Upside Down Jellies and Blue Blubber Jellies in the mangrove tank artwork for some reason, those will probably be in the jelly gallery portion
There is also a Squid (spiny lobster tank) and Cuttlefish (mangrove tank) depicted which is odd but Cuttlefish are probably pretty likely, something like the Dwarf Cuttlefish which are pretty common wouldn't be surprising. They do have a California Two-Spot Octopus who also lives in the touchpool area so that could also be what the Squid represents (odd choice), maybe it'll get it's own tank in the California Coastal Habitats area.
The other fish in the artwork are either Freshwater species or I can't really ID. There have been no artwork photos or construction videos of the "Octopus Grotto", "Jellies Gallery", "Coral Reefs", or already existing Kelp Forest Tank which I'd imagine they could do some touch ups on.
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I know this is a stupid question but don't Loggerheads eat anchovies? Unless are sea turtles similar to sharks in mixed aquaria are target fed to avoid predating on fishmates, sorry I am no expert.
 
peruvianbirdie said:
I know this is a stupid question but don't Loggerheads eat anchovies? Unless are sea turtles similar to sharks in mixed aquaria are target fed to avoid predating on fishmates, sorry I am no expert.
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I might be wrong but I believe Loggerheads eat mostly crustaceans and shellfish (crabs, clams, mussles, etc) so fish isn't really apart of their diet. I'd imagine it's similar like you mentioned though to the sharks, cause they're being fed so often there's no reason to go after the fish anyways
 
pachyderm pro said:
The Living Seas (renovated main gallery) opens May 22nd.

Birch Aquarium’s Much-Anticipated Living Seas Opening May 22
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Maybe it's because they already have a majority of the species on site from the "Hall of Fishes", but less than a year downtime from when Hall of Fishes closed to getting Living Seas open is pretty insane. I'm excited to check it out, the fake Mangrove Tree physically coming out of the tank on the left is pretty neat, I haven't seen many other places do that before.
 
The Aquarium announced today that they've welcomed 2 new Ambassador species: A Laughing Kookaburra and a Central Bearded Dragon (they don't have names yet)
It sounds like there are more ambassador species coming, but these two are here to specifically highlight Australian conservation since the Aquarium has a unique Australian collection already with the Weedy Seadragons and Ornate Boxfish.
The Kookaburra can be found near the aviary towards the entrance on a rotating schedule throughout the day, and the Bearded Dragon will also be brought out during the day on a rotating schedule
 
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
The Aquarium announced today that they've welcomed 2 new Ambassador species: A Laughing Kookaburra and a Central Bearded Dragon (they don't have names yet)
It sounds like there are more ambassador species coming, but these two are here to specifically highlight Australian conservation since the Aquarium has a unique Australian collection already with the Weedy Seadragons and Ornate Boxfish.
The Kookaburra can be found near the aviary towards the entrance on a rotating schedule throughout the day, and the Bearded Dragon will also be brought out during the day on a rotating schedule
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And don't forget the Little Penguins!
 
This article from a UCSD news outlet has some new information in it about "Living Seas", the most notable IMO:
  • The gallery will have UV-reactive wallpaper, signage, and digital projections that will be visible once the Aquarium switches from it's daytime lighting to nighttime lighting. This will be visible during the extended Summer hours + nighttime events which sounds pretty cool.
  • The GPO exhibit will be three times larger than the previous one, but will also include red lighting apparently. I hope that's just for after-hours because GPO's don't need red lighting, and it'd make for an obstructed viewing experience.
  • The "Open Ocean" exhibit will have a "striking blue infinity effect inside the tank" (not sure what that means, plus there were no species mentioned besides the Loggerhead Sea Turtle)
  • The new Scripps Pier Exhibit will also feature a live camera from the "Coastal Ocean Observing Lab’s Scripps Pier".
  • Also an exhibit that focuses on the Crystal Jellies (which the Aquarium has kept before), but specifically the research of Roger Tsien who is the Bio-chemist at UCSD who discovered the GFP protein from the Crystal Jellies and won a Nobel Prize from it, which will be really cool to see
  • The Mangrove exhibit will also feature Archerfish (probably Toxotes jaculatrix, the Banded Archerfish if I had to guess), but also Emerald Tree Skinks (Lamprolepis smaragdina) for the top / arboreal area of the exhibit. Which is surprising to hear but will be super cool to see. Emerald Tree Skinks are one of my favorite herps, coming from a non-reptile person.
Overall the gallery sounds like it's shaping up to be really great. I just hope the old Scythe Butterflyfish (Prognathodes falcifer) from the "Hall of Fishes" somehow find their way into this new gallery somewhere since they should be the only ones on exhibit in the world.

I might have an opportunity to check it out at the end of June which should be very exciting, I'm looking forward to the coming updates
 
The Aquarium announced a new limited-time exhibit running through Summer called Oarfish: Recent Discoveries from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography Collection which features two preserved specimens of the Short-crested Oarfish (Regalecus russellii) (The same one that washed up in La Jolla last year just two days before the 4.4 magnitude earthquake hit LA) and a King-of-the-Salmon (Trachipterus altivelis), both from the Scripps collection. Which is really neat IMO, definitely the closest we'll get to see either species in an Aquarium for the time being.

This article they also released about "Living Seas" a few days ago seems to mention them also spotlighting the Sunflower Sea Star program they've been working with, so it looks like we'll also get a Sunflower Star spotlight exhibit similar to the Crystal Jelly spotlight exhibit mentioned above in the new expansion.
 
A new article released by a local news network not only has new photos of areas we haven't seen before, but also reveals new species!
  • The first image looks like it's a part of the "Pacific Northwest" or "Southern California" gallery (I see dock piling on the right, so it makes me think it's the Pier exhibit which would be Southern California) they were talking about, since there are depictions of Strawberry Anemones and Kelp. I'm not sure what could go in that circular tank (maybe a California Two-spot Octopus? There was an octopus depicted in some of the Pier exhibit drawings) but I'm guessing the smaller tanks we see could house anything from Catalina Gobies, Pacific Spiny Lumpsuckers, Grunt Sculpins, etc
  • (You can also view the above image on their socials since the article might be paywalled)
  • The second image you can see the new Reef Tank on the far left, though not a good view of it. The existing Indo-Pacific tank on the right looks like it got a facelift, but that tank isn't new. I'm not sure if each of those circles on the adjacent wall are all individual tanks, but that would be very cool to showcase smaller Reef life.
  • The article also notes Japanese Spider Crabs as already being on exhibit (I believe these are new, I don't remember the aquarium keeping them before)
  • Along with the Moon Jellies, the Loggerhead Sea Turtle, and most of the Tropical Fish are already in their exhibits.
It's looking and sounding very nice, I'm interested to see that Japanese Spider Crab exhibit since it doesn't fit any region that they had mentioned already (No Japan or Asia themed gallery was mentioned). I'm guessing some Snipefish will be housed with them most likely.
 
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As there's only 12 days before the opening of Living Seas, the Aquarium released a sort of secret preview video of the expansion (it's only accessible through the Birch news story) which shows a good look a majority of the new habitats. Albeit, no animals were really shown besides the new Reef Tank, the species I could identify include:
  • Majestic / Blueface Angelfish (Pomacanthus xanthometopon)
  • Lyretail Anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis)
  • Fiji Blue Damselfish (I think, a little hard to tell since there's no close up shot) (Chrysiptera taupou)
  • Naso Tangs (Naso lituratus)
  • Mimic Tangs (Acanthurus pyroferus)
  • Blue Hippo Tangs (Paracanthurus hepatus)
Other cool bits of information are the GPO Tank includes a half-tunnel that you can walk under, there are multiple viewing areas for the Open Ocean Tank, the Scripps Pier exhibit area looks like it has 4 or 5 total tanks, and the Mangrove exhibit is mainly made up of artificial mangroves that enclose the tank on both sides of the hallway, but I'd imagine there will be real mangroves planted between
 
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