SeaOtterHQ
Well-Known Member
Anyone know if Bee and Cee were the two sea otters transferred to Kansas City Zoo, now named Matti and Owin? And what happened to Elle? Is she still at Aquarium of the Pacific?
Aquarium of the Pacific Aquarium of the Pacific
- Thread starter Sun Wukong
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Anyone know if Bee and Cee were the two sea otters transferred to Kansas City Zoo, now named Matti and Owin? And what happened to Elle? Is she still at Aquarium of the Pacific?
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping
Well-Known Member
I thought I'd post this here since it is the only one on exhibit in the world but the Aquarium's Clipperton Angelfish (Holacanthus limbaughi) is still out on exhibit! Pretty amazing since it's in the ballpark of 28 years old and still doing well.
This photo was taken by someone I know Monday, it resides in their "large Reef exhibit" now (I'm guessing he's talking about the big tank in the Tropical Pacific Gallery). Once this guy is taken off exhibit, there would be no more Clipperton Angels on exhibit and potentially in captivity.
This photo was taken by someone I know Monday, it resides in their "large Reef exhibit" now (I'm guessing he's talking about the big tank in the Tropical Pacific Gallery). Once this guy is taken off exhibit, there would be no more Clipperton Angels on exhibit and potentially in captivity.
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Updates from the Aquarium:
- According to a Docent there is now a male Zebra Shark in Shark Lagoon for breeding purposes.
- The Horseshoe Crabs have been removed from their tank near the animal hospital and have been replaced by a collection of corals and giant clams, no fish currently. The whole thing is covered by glass panels making the inhabitants difficult to see.
- The holding tank in the same area currently has a Green Sea Turtle and Southern Stingray.
- The shorebirds exhibit currently holds: American Avocets, Willet, Pied-Billed Grebe, Bufflehead Ducks, White-Faced Ibis, and Killdeers.
- The Ray touch-tank has two Thornback Guitarfish.
- I did not see the two Crested Auklets in the puffin exhibit however this USDA report https://aphis.file.force.com/sfc/di...ws9mCOXjlV9bY4HH3dZy5Ksd_5p8zjUEg&asPdf=false from June lists the aquarium as having two.
- The report also species that were on exhibit that must be behind the scenes currently and some species I was unaware of like Rhinoceros Auklet and Crested Caracara.
- The species list for the new Frog Gallery is: Prehensile Tailed Skink, Solomon Island Leaf Frog, Axolotl, Red-Backed Poison Dart Frog, Cemetery Strawberry Frog, Kaisers Mountain Newt, Mossy Frog, Magnificent Tree Frog, Smoky Jungle Frog, Panamanian Golden Frog, Blue Poison Dart Frog (also unsigned Yellow-Banded Poison Dart Frog in the same exhibit), Anthony’s Poison Dart Frog, Golden Poison Dart Frog, Green and Black Poison Dart Frog, and Golden Mantella.
- The two Juvenile Zebra Sharks have moved into the Large Tropical Pacific Tank along with the Grey Reef Sharks.
- The Bluespotted Mask Ray is now in the Tropical Gallery in the large last tank before the main window.
- Mountain Yellow Legged frogs are now on exhibit in the Pacific Visions Gallery.
This is not in the large Tropical Reef Exhibit. It is in the left tunnel exhibit which is made to look like it is connected to the larger exhibit but is not. Luckily that means this fish is very easy to spot.
I was at the aquarium on August 21 and only saw one Crested auklet. I was able to talk to a bird keeper who said that they only have one male now who is very old at 25 years old. He is also the only Crested auklet in captivity. Here's a picture I took of him.
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Northwest_FIsh_Keeping
Well-Known Member
I'll be down at AOP towards the end of the month and I'll try my best to get a somewhat complete species list (some recent posts I've seen of their species collection are blowing my mind, specifically their Flower Hat Jellies and some sort of Beroe sp.), but I was wondering if anyone here knows if the Clipperton Angel and Crested Auklet are still on exhibit / alive?
Someone I know from MBA stopped by not long ago and said he didn't see any sign of the Clipperton Angel anywhere BTS or on exhibit (a friend I know who's a part time aquarist at AOP did say the Clipperton was on it's way out from age) so I'm not exactly hopeful in seeing that guy unfortunately. I haven't heard anything about the Crested Auklet though, but I'm guessing it might be in the same boat as the Clipperton.
Someone I know from MBA stopped by not long ago and said he didn't see any sign of the Clipperton Angel anywhere BTS or on exhibit (a friend I know who's a part time aquarist at AOP did say the Clipperton was on it's way out from age) so I'm not exactly hopeful in seeing that guy unfortunately. I haven't heard anything about the Crested Auklet though, but I'm guessing it might be in the same boat as the Clipperton.
The Aquarium has announced they will be building a new exhibit focused on sea turtle rehabilitation and release. The exhibit has been granted funds from NOAA and will include a 4,000 gallon enclosure. It will be somewhere near the Molina Animal Care Center (most likely where the horseshoe crabs were before).
Aquarium of the Pacific Releases Rehabilitated Loggerhead Sea Turtle Off the Southern California Coast
Aquarium of the Pacific Releases Rehabilitated Loggerhead Sea Turtle Off the Southern California Coast
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping
Well-Known Member
Over on Instagram the Aquarium put out a half serious, half joke post about 2025 plans and they mention new exhibits will be coming in this year. They didn't reveal what themes they're going for (responded to someone in the comments basically saying it's a secret for now), but if I had to guess I think a couple of the major galleries may get some touch ups plus maybe the "Babies!" Gallery will be renovated to something else since a lot of the Baby Elasmos have already grown up and it's mainly just juvenile fish on exhibit.
Local_Shark
Well-Known Member
One thing I can now confirm AOP is working on is a complete remodel of the upstairs temperate Ray Pool. The entire exhibit is presently closed off with wooden planks and there is a lot of construction going on. All the animals are still on site, and allegedly the plan is to deepen, widen, and completely revitalize the original setup. My expectation is it would be complete sometime in Q3 of this year (late summer possibly).
I was at the aquarium today and was talking to a bird keeper who confirmed that their last crested auklet in captivity has passed away. He was 26 years old.
I also was able to see the clipperton angelfish
This has actually changed to become a new invertebrate touch tank, with the reason being that the touch tanks in the Northern Pacific Gallery are very popular, causing long lines. Here is a photo I took below.
I also was able to see the clipperton angelfish
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Changed as in they are adding an invertebrate touch tank and remodeling the Ray pool/wetland aviary you mean right? The aquarium did have some invertebrate touch tanks outside where the penguin exhibit is now and had live anemones in the Ray pool, but it’s good they’ll be getting new ones.
My bad, that's what I meant.
Local_Shark
Well-Known Member
What I'm told (from sources from my volunteer days, whom I do trust) is that the existing Ray Pool will be expanded, and based on this info that likely will include an entirely separate invertebrate touch pool or a new section for it. I'm glad for the idea, the inverts pool inside is indeed a massive line issue haha.
Oh agreed the line inside is awful. Do you have any idea what work will be done on the aviary?
Local_Shark
Well-Known Member
That I’m not sure of, they say on that sign that it’s being included in the renovation so one hopes that it’ll get a big facelift. The people who mentioned the work to me did not talk about that aspect. Sorry for being so little help haha
This Saturday (the 24th) the aquarium will be opening two new exhibits:
Stars of the sea species list includes:
Stars of the Sea | Aquarium of the Pacific
- A group of outdoor touch pools on the California terrace called “Our Living Coastline”. This will display multiple species of California Sea Star, Urchin, and Anemone.
- A temporary exhibit called “Stars of the Sea” featuring multiple species of Sea Star. The gallery will be open until April 30th.
Stars of the sea species list includes:
- Basket Star (Gorgonocephalus eucnemis)
- Bat Star (Patricia miniata)
- Blue Linckia (Linckia laevigata)
- Chocolate Chip Star (Protoreaster nodus)
- Crown-of-thorns (Acanthaster planci)
- Feather Star (Comatella stelligera)
- Giant-spined Sea Star (Pisaster giganteus)
- Granulated Sea Star (Choriaster granulatus)
- Leather Star (Dermasterias imbricata)
- Mottled Sea Star (Evasterias troschelii)
- Pacific Blood Sea Star (Henricia leviuscula)
- Pink Sea Star (Pisaster brevispinus)
- Rainbow star (Orthasteria koehleri)
- Red Linckia (Linckia multifora)
- Sand Star (Luidia foliolata)
- Spiny Brittle Star (Ophiotrix spiculata)
- Spiny Sand Star (Astropecten armatus)
- Sunflower Star (Pynopodia helianthoides)
- Vermillion Sea Star (Mediaster aequalis)
Stars of the Sea | Aquarium of the Pacific
The Our Living Coastline was the Stingray Touch Pool what happened to them?
Well it seems like the exhibit has taken up the entire Ray touch pool space:
per social media.
I know the aquarium had been adding bat rays to the blue cavern for a few years now so I would imagine that’s where they sent the bat rays and most likely the sturgeon, pelagic rays, and guitarfish too. The round rays and thorn backs most likely moved into the aviary pool.
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Edit: there seems to be a round rays in the bottom of the tank in second photo. It seems like the middle tank will be dedicated to smaller rays (and possibly sharks/fish) while the two on the sides will be for invertebrates.
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping
Well-Known Member
The 20th species should be the Green Crinoids (Comaster sp. I believe) that are kept in the Tropical Reef Gallery, they got their own little feature for some reason, but it does mention they'll be a part of the exhibit.
Correct, they replied to a few people on Instagram, saying at least the Bat Rays and Pelagic Stingray were moved to the Blue Cavern, but didn't elaborate on the rest. Going to be interesting for the Pelagic Stingray on what they'll do with her when she outgrows even the Blue Cavern since that exhibit has more height than length