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Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
2 Zebra Sharks
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Very excitingly, the second Zebra / female Zebra Shark actually moved into the on-site animal care area on Wednesday! She's now viewable to the public alongside Kuda the male Zebra Shark in that holding pool space. I'm not sure if they'll be added to "The Reef" together or not, but this is so that they get used to each other's presence since they weren't housed together at the offsite facility and there is a notable size and age difference.
For reference, she should be the same female who, when she was an egg, came from the Georgia Aquarium. I did hear talks about another female a long time ago to make a trio, but that's probably not the case yet. I'm very excited to see them both go on exhibit whenever that is.
 
OP News: A massive wave of species moved over this morning into "The Reef" exhibit, all of these species were once housed in the large tank in the old "Pacific Coral Reef Gallery" on Pier 59. I was wondering when they'd be moving over, and it happened today, so woohoo. I'm not sure if I'm allowed to give specific numbers of each species, but I can name them off. I'll split them up by species that are brand new to the OP, and species that were already in the OP but more individuals were added:

New Species
  • Orangeshoulder Tangs (Acanthurus olivaceus)
  • Whitebar Tangs (Acanthurus leucopareius)
  • Spotted Unicorn Tangs (Naso brevirostris)
  • Orange Spotted Rabbitfish (Siganus guttatus)
  • Doublebar Rabbitfish (Siganus virgatus)
  • Blueline Tang (Acanthurus nigroris)
  • Redsea Sailfin Tang (Zebrasoma desjardinii)
  • Sailfin Tangs (Zebrasoma veliferum)
  • Raccoon Butterflyfishes (Chaetodon lunula)
  • Yellow Tangs (Zebrasoma flavescens)
  • Convict Tangs (Acanthurus triostegus)
  • Purple Tangs (Zebrasoma xanthurum)
  • Sailfin Butterflyfishes (Chaetodon auriga)
  • Hawaiian Squirrelfish (Sargocentron punctatissimum)
  • Lei Triggerfish (Sufflamen bursa)
  • One-spot Foxface Rabbitfish (Siganus unimaculatus)
  • Lavander Tang (Acanthurus nigrofuscus)
Species that we're already in the OP, but more individuals were added
  • Hawaiian Flagtails
  • Clown Triggerfish
Lot's of new to species that will be super cool to try and spot since most of them, only a few individuals were left over from the old exhibit. The Hawaiian Squirrelfish is apparently a really rare species outside of Hawaii, so I'm excited about that guy. I'm not sure why he wasn't added to the Coral Canyon in the Archipelago with the Soldierfish, but that'll make him a nice easter egg to find. Hopefully with basically all the leftover species added now, we'll see some new species added soon
 
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
I'm very excited to see them both go on exhibit whenever that is.
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I talked to some people today and the consensus is that the Female will actually be going on exhibit first (sounded like within a couple weeks) since she's "much more responsive to her training" than Kuda (the male Zebra Shark) so he will still be in the holding pool. Im not sure what his issue is but he's just incredibly stubborn it sounds like.

Also as expected, I did not see the Hawaiian / Peppered Squirrelfish unfortunately. However I was made aware that the Whitebar Surgeonfish and Bluelined Surgeonfish, allegedly were 1 of 2 global holders of the species (according to ZTL so lots of salt), but I managed to get pics of both today (and most of the other species)
 
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Very sad and unexpected news, our Black Bellied Plover passed away Monday morning
Due to "age-related issues" since he was at least over 20 years old. He was one of my favorites amongst the birds at the Aquarium.
This now makes the Shorebird collection at the aquarium to consist of:
  • Western Snowy Plover
  • Killdeer
  • Black Oyster Catchers (2 of them)
I have no idea if there will be more shorebirds brought in before the inevitable Pier renovations, but considering there weren't any brought in after our Long-billed Curlew passed away last year, I wouldn't expect anything.
 
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
I did hear talks about another female a long time ago to make a trio, but that's probably not the case yet. I'm very excited to see them both go on exhibit whenever that is.
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Take this with a lot of salt but I was told by two volunteers that allegedly, the word is that there is infact a 3rd Zebra Shark behind the scenes that isn't ready for the main holding pool yet. That's all I was told, nothing yet about its origins, gender, name, etc. Though I'd imagine its a female to make a 1M / 2F ratio for breeding purposes. Even though there won't be any breeding for a few years since they're all still young, the genetic diversity should be pretty good for the ReShark program:
  • Kuda (the male) from Mandalay Bay Aquarium
  • Oatmeal (the female) from Georgia Aquarium
  • Alleged 3rd individual, origin unknown
I was also told Oatmeal will be going into The Reef very soon. No ETA of when the second Blacktip Reef Shark will be going in.

The aquarium also sent out an email that mentioned thanks to 4,000 various contributors, the $160M goal for the "One Ocean, One Future" campaign was reached, which hopefully means very little debt / no more debt? That is a big weight off the aquarium's shoulders either way. I might post a "How I would change the Seattle Aquarium" concept in that thread later just to give my two cents.
Hopefully now that at least 90% to 100% of the cost has been covered, we might see some new changes / concept plans coming up. Especially since a couple (i think it's 4) of the 2026 World Cup Games are being hosted here next year, I'd imagine there will be some incoming changes happening for that
 
OP News:
  • This past week, 12 Milkfish (Chanos chanos) were added to "The Reef", and the Purple Square Anthias in the Garden Eel tank were removed and moved into "The Reef" to join the existing ones in there.
  • Instead, a "few dozen" Pajama Cardinalfish have taken their place in the Garden Eel tank now.
  • A couple Pajama Cardinalfish are also with the Mangrove Upside Down Jellies now too
Also somewhat related, Pier 58 (the pier to the left of the Pier 59 building where the original Aquarium is), is opening back up on July 25th after it was closed for a few years for renovation and damage. It kept the marine life / aquarium themeing to an extent, there's a Jellyfish playground, Kelp and Bubble statues, and there's an open section in the center so you're able to look down at the marine wall where a lot of baby fish usually hide.
 
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Got to go into today and check things out, a surprising number of new additions / moves. Summer is normally the time when collection happens for the Piers, and the second large holding pool in the OP is now set up and running so it looks like a lot of things are going on at the moment, I'm excited to hear about what happens these next couple of weeks.
The species list is updated accordingly (all the way at the bottom)
However, for current news:
Pier 59 |
A new closer look table theme has rotated, this rotation's theme is "Colors of the Sea" which includes
  • California Sea Cucumbers (Apostichopus californicus)
  • Purple Sea Urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus)
  • Mottled Sea Star (Evasterias troschelii)
  • Sharpnose Crab (Scyra acutifrons)
  • Green Sea Urchins (Strongylocentrotus droebachiensis)
  • Monterey Sea Lemon / Monterey Dorid Nudibranch (Doris montereyensis)
  • Vermillion Stars (Mediaster aequalis)
  • Strawberry Anemones (Corynactis californica)
  • Orange Cup Corals (Balanophyllia elegans)
  • Spiny Scallops (Chlamys hastata)
  • Crescent Gunnel (Pholis laeta)
Pier 60 |
  • A Sailfin Sculpin (Nautichthys oculofasciatus) is now with the Bay Pipefishes
  • 2 Orange Sea Pens (Ptilosarcus gurneyi) are now in the larger Deepwater Tank with the Red Banded Rockfish and Splitnose Rockfish
  • A Painted Greenling (Oxylebius pictus) and Brown Irish Lord (Hemilepidotus spinosus) are now in the first Rocky Cliff tank
  • More Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were moved into the Freshwater Stream exhibit
Ocean Pavilion (mainly just ID corrections) |
  • So I did some more research and it turns out, there are only Longfin Batfish (Platax teira) in the Reef exhibit, no Dusky Batfish, and definitely no Orbicular Batfish (still not sure why we have them signed as Orbicular). The darker individuals is apparently just another color morph / mood change they can display, since Dusky Batfish have a much longer face.
  • The Hawaiian Flagtails on exhibit are actually Kuhlia sandvicensis, which are also found in the Indo-Pacific and not just Hawaii, so it makes a lot more sense for them to be here
  • More Bubbletip Anemones were added to the Clownfish harem tank in AHITO (pretty large ones too)
  • The Mangrove Upside Down Jelly tank got a nice refresh, which included raising the sand bed higher so the Jellies are at eye level now, adding some fake mangrove roots and seagrass, and the addition of 6 Pajama Cardinalfish to give some more movement to the upper part of the tank
 
Pier 59 News:
  • A new GPO named "Violet" is now on exhibit, she weighs 15 pounds and is female. The previous GPO "Uni" was moved behind the scenes since she wasn't adjusting well to the exhibit
Ocean Pavilion News:
  • The Yellow Lined Coris Wrasse in the Reef unfortunately passed away, not sure why. I think we have a second individual so there should still be 1 in the Reef.
  • The Blunt Slipper Lobster (Scyllarides squammosus) passed away due to a failed molt. However, it's been behind the scenes since late October as it didn't get along with the Ornate Spiny Lobster kn exhibit, so it hasn't been on public view for a while now. Still sad news.
  • The Percula Clownfish that were in the old "Pacific Coral Reef" gallery have been introduced to the Coral Canyon side of the Archipelago. I believe the original 5 are still in good health so they should be viewable now, hopefully by the Carpet Anemone since its the same one they were with in the old gallery.
 
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
The Yellow Lined Coris Wrasse in the Reef unfortunately passed away, not sure why.
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Was confirmed to be of old age. Apparently, she was collected in Hawaii back in 2017 so she was at least 8 years old, and the typical lifespan of the species is around 8 to 9 years so it matches up.
Northwest_FIsh_Keeping said:
The Percula Clownfish that were in the old "Pacific Coral Reef" gallery have been introduced to the Coral Canyon side of the Archipelago.
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In addition, a group of Ocellaris Clownfish were also added to the Coral Canyon side. I'm not sure if these are new ones that have been growing behind the scenes, or if they were moved from the "Can we be friend's?" Tank in AHITO. Need to go back in soon.
 
Ocean Pavilion News:
Oatmeal (the female Zebra Shark) is now on exhibit in the Reef! She's pretty active and exploring everywhere which is great, glad to have a Zebra Shark back in the main exhibit again. Hopefully Kuda (the male) will join her soon, but it sounds like he's still being stubborn with his training, so we'll see
 
A couple of new updates:

Pier 60
  • Sadly, the remaining Big Skate in the Dome passed away from what appeared to be an infection that developed. So unfortunately, there are no more Big Skates at the Aquarium. I said it before but it kinda sucks they came from a really poor place but at least they got to live in a much better environment for a while.
Ocean Pavilion

Tons of new fish were added throughout the building, mainly species that were already in the Aquarium but there's also a few new ones. A majority of these are from the old "Pacific Coral Reef" Gallery, which this should be the last ones from that exhibit with the exception of some Hawaiian endemic species.
New Species include:
  • 1 Christmas Wrasse (Thalassoma trilobatum) in "The Reef"
  • 1 Clown Tang (Acanthurus lineatus) in "The Reef"
  • 1 Mimic Tang (Acanthurus pyroferus) in "The Reef"
  • 4 Red Coris / Yellowtail Coris Wrasses (Coris gaimard) in "The Reef"
  • 2 Yelloweye Kole Tangs (Ctenochaetus strigosus) in the Garden Eel Tank in AHITO
  • 5 Hawaiian Flagtails (Khulia xenura) in "The Reef", this is the true endemic Hawaiian species. So we have 3 species of Flagtail now in the Reef
Species that were already in the OP, but more individuals were added include:
  • 25 Milkfish were added to the second floor holding pool, they'll go into the Reef once they're done with quarantine, which should total to 37 Milkfish since there's the existing group of 12 in there
  • 4 Bluespine Unicornfish were added to the Reef
  • 1 Barred Flagtail was added to the Reef
  • 4 Reticulated Flagtails were added to the Reef
  • 7 Convict Tangs were added to the Reef
  • 2 Hawaiian / Peppered Squirrelfish were added to the Reef (which hopefully means I'll get a picture now with 3 of them in there)
  • 2 Lei Triggerfish were added to the Reef
  • 1 Moorish Idol was added to the Reef
  • 6 Racoon Butterflyfish were added to the Reef
  • 2 Ringtail Surgeonfish were added to the Reef
  • 1 Sailfin Tang was added to the Reef
  • 3 Whitebar Surgeonfish were added to the Reef (didn't know we had so many of this really rare species)
  • 5 Yellow Tangs were added to the Reef
  • 1 Emperor Angelfish was added to the Reef
  • 1 Goldspotted Rabbitfish was added to the Reef
 
The Aquarium announced the passing of the remaining Pigeon Guillemot, "PG" (pronounced "PeeJ" apparently). At almost 40 years old, she was behind the scenes for the last few years since she didn't like the public attention anymore and was dealing with arthritis issues so I never got to see her, sadly. Her mate passed away a few years ago as well which likely contributed to her not wanting public attention anymore. This means the Aquarium is sadly no longer home to any Pigeon Guillemots.
Seattle Aquarium on Instagram: "The Aquarium mourns the passing of longtime resident PG, the elderly pigeon guillemot in our care. Yesterday, PG’s care team made the difficult decision to euthanize her after a rapid worsening of the arthritis in her knees. This didn’t improve with additional medications and began to affect her quality of life. At just under 40 years old, PG was well above the life expectancy for her species, a testament to the attentive care she received. PG was born in early 1986. She came to the Aquarium that August from a rehabilitation center after the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife determined that she could not live in the wild. While she connected with many Aquarium visitors throughout her long life, PG lived primarily behind the scenes for the past four years, a decision based on the preferences she expressed and her health needs. For those who knew and cared for her, this sweet little bird was always held in great affection. Her favorite foods were herring fillets, sand eels and krill, and she delighted her care team by greeting them with loud, excited chirps when her food bowl was brought near. Behind the scenes, she sat on mini thrones crafted out of towels—always resting in style—and was an expert at picking vitamins out of her food, much to her care team’s dismay. PG was a beloved figure for Aquarium staff, especially for our Birds & Mammals and Veterinary teams, who cared for her tirelessly into her old age. She will be greatly missed. "
 
Pier 59 News:
  • The Pinto Abalone exhibit got a slight expansion as the wall to right of the tank now has a small inwall exhibit to showcase baby Pinto Abalones as part of the Aquarium's conservation work. I'm pretty sure this was the old the Clownfish and Anemone tank since it's the same size. But this should confirm that they're waiting to renovate the entirety of the old Pacific Coral Reef gallery space once they start construction in the future on this side of the Pier.
Pier 60 News:
Puget Sound Fish Gallery
  • The Northern Spearnose Poacher and Brown Cabezon are sadly off exhibit
  • In return, 2 White spotted Greenlings (Hexagrammos stelleri) (1 in the former Pinto Abalone tank and 1 in one of the "Rocky Cliffs" tanks) are now on exhibit
  • Also a juvenile Puget Sound King Crab is also on exhibit in the former Pinto Abalone tank. This is pretty significant since I believe this is the 1st PSKC on exhibit in the PSF gallery in a couple of years since the others have always been exhibited at the "Closer Look Table". I'm hoping it grows out and once larger, will move to the other tank across the room that has the Red Banded Rockfish.
  • A Blackeye Goby is also back on exhibit in the "Orange Cup Coral" tank
  • There are also some Un-ID'd snails in the "Filter Feeders" tank that I'm pretty confident are new, working on an ID for those
OP News:
  • I don't believe it was ever mentioned by staff but there is a Yellow Longnose Butterflyfish in the "Coral Canyon" side of the Archipelago now, not sure when that happened
 
Pier 59 News:
  • Seems like another collection trip recently happened as the "Closer Look Table" now has the new theme: Conservation and Innovation" that showcases species that the Aquarium is working with. But more excitingly, in two of the tanks, there is now a Butterfly Crab (Cryptolithodes typicus) and a Heart Crab (Phyllolithodes papillosus), which are rarely ever displayed. I honestly didn't even catch them until I saw their signage flash on the projector. I'm really happy to see the Aquarium displaying more rare, local species again.
Pier 60:
  • Sadly, it appears the Grunt Sculpins are off exhibit for unknown reasons, but I bet they'll be back soon since they're a staple species
  • More Orange Sea Pens were added to the "Rocky Cliff" displays
OP:
  • There is now a Green Birdmouth Wrasse (Gomphosus caeruleus) (Male, since it's green) in the Coral Canyon side of the Archipelago now. I don't even remember if there were any Birdmouth Wrasses in the old Pacific Coral Reef gallery (there was a female Gomphosus varius, which I'm not sure what happened to her), so this could be a new acquisition. Either way, he's very noticeable and active.
 
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OP News: A third Zebra Shark is now at the Aquarium! His name is "Lazlo" and he's from Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay. He's 4 years old, so he's the oldest of the trio. From what rumors I've heard for a while, he's been at the offsite facility for a few months, but will now be visible in the larger holding pool at the OP for a bit before he moves into "The Reef".
The rundown for the Aquarium's trio should be as follows now:

Lazlo
  • 4 years old, from Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, Male
Kuda
  • 3 years old now I believe, from Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay, Male
Oatmeal
  • Almost 2 years old now I believe, from Georgia Aquarium, Female
Since hes older, he has more of the adult pattern than Kuda and Oatmeal so it'll be easier to spot him.
 
Pier 60:
  • The Grunt Sculpins in "Puget Sound Fish" are back on exhibit, but not signed yet
  • There is a small, ongoing mice issue in the Birds area, so you might see a few small, brown mice running around. They're "not sure how to fix it" so, not sure how long that will be going on for (its already been a month apparently)
Ocean Pavilion:
  • The Milkfish that were in the holding pool are now in "The Reef", though Lazlo the Zebra Shark is still in there.
  • More excitingly, the Clownfish and Anemone Tank is covered up and seemingly(?) drained since it's covered both inside and outside with a "We're improving this habitat". I haven't heard anything about this so I wonder if something new will be coming in or they're just doing some work on the rocks or plumbing. Kinda sucks since I love the Orange-spotted Filefishes, but they could be moved somewhere else. Something that I'll look out for.
  • The Cuttlefish Tank also was covered up but I believe its just new 1.5 month old dwarf cuttlefish in holding that are moving on exhibit and need time to adjust
 
Rest in peace, Ahanu

Some incredibly devastating news this morning as Ahanu the North American River Otter sadly passed away during a routine medical exam under anesthesia. It's not known yet what happened, but the exam did show an abnormality in his lungs that wasn't present before. They're not sure if this possibly contributed to his passing. He was normal this morning and going into the exam, but didn't wake up from the anesthesia. He was 15 or 16 years old I think.
I'm not sure what the plans now are for Molalla (the other NA River Otter) since they've been together for so long. Either moving him to another facility or bringing in a new River Otter i've heard are ideas, but nothing is confirmed since this was so sudden. Rest in peace buddy.
 
And it's official! Welcome Ruby, the Southern Sea Otter! (a more "official" announcement for Ruby specifically will be posted later today on the socials, but this is now public information).
I had heard of a rumor about this in early October but thought it was a joke at first. This is the same Ruby from Monterey Bay Aquarium, she's coming to Seattle since she didn't adapt well to MBA's surrogacy program and this move will allow MBA to bring in a new potential surrogate Otter, along with the opportunity for Seattle to educate guests about the differences between Northern and Southern Sea Otters, while also educating about the similar problems they face in the wild.

This is such huge news since not only is the newest marine mammal in I don't even know how long at Seattle, she's also the first Southern Sea Otter in the Aquarium's history. I'm not sure how many other Aquariums besides Shedd co-hab both subspecies, but Seattle is now on that list. Mishka and Seiku are Northern, and Ruby is Southern.
Starting from today, she'll be "soft-quarantined" in the public holding area space since there's no "behind-the-scenes" quarantine for the mammals technically, so she's on exhibit as of today. Overtime as she's acclimated, she'll be introduced to Mishka and Seiku, and then eventually have access to the main exhibit space where all 3 should co-hab. This is so exciting, I can't wait to share pictures of her.
 
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