Sfi'rv bn Meg Dedolph Phi'li* I’v Anthony Forney Graph H > l<y Jeff I’aslay A metrldium anenomea la perched on a rock aa pan of the Rocky Shore a exhibit. Animals exhibited In the Rocky Shores exhibit Include Pacific aplny lumpsuck ers, wolf eels, aculplna, decorated warbonneta and a wide range of aea stars and anemones LOCATION: South of Newport's Yaquma Bay Bridge, off Highway 101 HOURS: Oct 16 - May 14.10 a m to 4 30 p m Closed Christmas Day ADMISSION: $7 35 adults. S5 25 seniors and youth. $3 15 children, free under tour years old MISSION: Impart to visitors a balanced, informed understanding of the resources so abundant on the Oregon Coast and just off of its shores OPEN DATE: May 23,1992 COST OF FACILITY: S24 million FIRST-YEAR ATTENDANCE: 841.000 NUMBER OF SPECIES: 171 NUMBER OF SPECIMENS: 6.650 STAFF: 69 full-time, 200 volunteers 1 FAjMIY . Two million gallons of seawater are pumped from Yaquina Bay each day to support the aquarium's exhibits By using an elaborate filtration system, the water released back to the bay is cleaner than the water originally imported from it The sea otter exhibit's water runs through sophisticated high-rate sand filters and an ozone filtration system Exhibit water Is filtered at a rate of 1.800 gallons per minute or 2 6 million gallons each day MILES OF PIPE: 8 THICKNESS OF WINDOWS IN THE AQUARIUM’S EXHIBITS: 1 25" to 4" MILES OF ELECTRICAL WIRING: 4 • 66 percent of first-year visitors came from Oregon • 33 percent were from from the Porlland-Vancouver metro area • 12 percent came from Washington • 6 percent came trom California • The aquarium has hosted people from all 50 states and more than 60 foreign countries since its opening All the animals at the Oregon Coast Aquarium live on five gallons ol brine shrimp and 200 pounds of lish each day Daily operating costs are covered by gate receipts Annual feeding costs for the sea otters add up to (10,000 to $15,000 a year in shrimp, crab and clams The birds In the Seabird Aviary alone consume 1.500 pounds of fish each month Sea otters are the most varacious eaters, consuming up to 25 percent of their body wieght each day. The Oregon Coast Aquarium is a slice of Oregon’s rugged coast line, reproduced on the shores of Newport’s Yaquina Bay or Cody. Sitkn and Kiana. lifo is oasy. They're fed daily . without having to hunt. ^ they don't have to avoid predators looking fora mmn course, and they aren't in danger of oil spills at their new home. The trio — Alaskan sea otters qi ine urexon Aquarium in Newport — were rescued and rehabilitated after the Kxxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska. Rather than being watcher! by sharks looking for a snack, they have hundreds of people pointing, taking pictures and making cute cooing noises at them daily. They get pounds of restaurant-quality squid, rock crab, snails and dams instead of competing with fisher men for abalone. And, comfortable in their thick, furry pelts, they play with toys introduced Into the pool, such ns balls and tmshcan lids, as well as some that come their way acci dentally. such os a holt Cody broke off of a fixture at the bottom of their lank. For the employees and volun teers at the aquarium, the otters' playfulness adds color to the task of tending to the thousands of creatures that represent native life on the Oregon Coast. Tim Carmichael (above) and Valeria Lewis visit the moon jetty fish exhibit with their son Alex (left) and daughter All zaire. A sea nettle (left) swims by In an exhibit at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. Seven-year-old Sean Plersall (cantor) looks over tho animals In tho touch pool. Plersall was able to pick up and look at any of tha creatures In the pool. "We won! beyond galleries or exhibits indoors loan outdoor area which basically represents entire ecosystems." said Diane Hammond, the aquarium's pub lie: eolations olticor. "The lanclsi.aping, the native plants, the geology are just as important, she said. "Suddenly, you’re beyond the scope of aquarium to a mix of aquarium and IViiTwr Ilf from after (if pvstiry f«W t:r inJ mtwtvre orr» tkf i r zoo. The aquarium is designed around a dis tilled theme of a single raindrop falling in the coastal forests and work Air r»t*x ot*f mr urtnri set pasties urn highlit* lairs l<xami the knJ [iwpcnli from Ike sea info the lir a rr list g ,skn A f ing its way through ecosystems and estuaries until it reaches the Pacific Ocean. Instead of dark hallways with rows of neatly labeled tanks, the aquarium's indoor exhibits are divided among four galleries, each holding species rep resentative of a certain habitat. s Sea ooob ilowiy* One holds the wildlife of sandy shores, sand dollars, frond like sea pens and the denizens beneath docks and piers. Anoth er gallery holds the life found on rocky shores and tide pools like starfish, some brittle and some soft like a wet velour cush ion. Some of the more popular residents found in the third gallery, the coastal waters exhibit, are the jellyfish, including the moon jellyfish that drift white and ghostly in the water. Another species, the egg yolk jellyfish, are so similar to their namesake they could swim in a bowl of egg flower soup, comfortably hid den from unwary diners. The final gallery shows life found in saltwater marshes including shellfish that burrow in the mud. Outdoor exhibits include the see otter tank, an aviary with four kinds of sou birds, sea lions and har UnJ cook qukily Pre[ tplittm falls onto the knj nor seals that were either | born captive or rehabili tated. Hammond said the aquarium employs 69 full time workers, including since the aquarium opened," Hammond said, "That's the equiv alent of 12.5 full-time staff positions, and we need people to do what they're dome.” DA' Clare Stash, a retired speech therapist, has volua* r Air pushed out to sea at hitfh altitudes increases the air pres- S sure over the cool sea three who tend the systems that pro vide dean water and life support for the exhibits. Air sinks ovtrlht cool sta irul prrapiiaum inking air onr the Lind <irtm air umcard on thf iarfacr. mating a ItnJfcrtrzr Ram tails ami coUtcls m ntm. eslumrs and the toil or is rapontnl Another 14 directly on employees tend the tea the animals and, when needed, collect new specimens for the aquarium under scientific permit. 1 nere s a husbandry team trial dives, goes tide pooling. goes out with fishermen." Hammond said. "We have good relations with fishermen. We put out the word, if we want a wolf eel and a fisherman catches it in his net, he'll bring it to us or call us and wo II go pick it up. But whatever their job. the full-time employ ees also draw on the services of nearly 200 vol unteers who greet visitors, answer questions or help work with the animals. "These volunteers have put in 28.000 hours Sea wirms up very slowly Wotr run-off directly from riven and streams Sinking air over the sm anJ rising air over the land dm* sea air shoreward, creating a stiff sea breeze at the surface. Water from rain, sal. vegitalion and lakes and tools evaporates into the W v I ■ leered al the aquarium since it opened. Stash watches children and parents gathered around the touch pool — a simulated tide pool filled with rocks, seaweed, anemones, starfish and other hardy creatures. The most common things Stash hears are "Will it hurt k mo?" and 'Oooh, it’s slimy!'... I always say, 'no, it's like K velvet," she said. Air rises txrr Iht uvrm land afoul 6/10 milt afoot the ground [uipvrutum from land collects in the air mss Stash said she decided to volunteer after seeing an ad in the Newport newspaper. "I came because I had the time and I was interested." she said "I never had a chance to see these things." The main mason Stash enjoys her work at the aquarium is because chil dren visit. "They're so fascinating and some are so interested.” site said. Visitors rarely see the parts of the aquarium whom exhibits are built, where brine shrimp am hatched for food and where animals wait to t>e put on display and play their part in the raindrop's cycle. Details more noticeahlo to the visitor include artificial pier pilings covered with fiberglass barnacles until real ones can grow, and "traffic fish." 1ami uvrm up quietly at the sun if molded Chinook salmon, who point tne way to the exhibits with their noses. More exhibits are in the works, and con struction will begin as soon as enough money is raised. The exhibits will tie the finishing touches on a facility that was planned for more than 10 years, and most appropriately, they will complete the raindrop's cycle. Imagine your worst teen age nightmare Your legs are thin and gangly Your beak is growing longer every day The leathers on the top ot your head iust won t lay Hat, and the big ger kids are picking on you Sound tannliar? It docs tor six black oyster catch ers at the Oregon Coast Aquarium, too these young birds are not only new arrivals in the Oregon Coast Aquarium's Seabird Aviary, but also a newly featured species there A coastal shorebird the species inhabits rocky tidal areas and is rarely seen on exhibit at other zoos or aquariums 13311: SEABIRD AVIARY: Just oil ol Oregon's shores live birds that spend then lives at sea except lor their annual breeding season during the summer An open ait walk through aviary at the aquarium allows visitors the rare opportunity to see up close Oregon's tutted puttins, common murres, rhinocer os auklets and pigeon guillemots The aviary is the largest ot its kind in North America INOOOR EXHIBITS: Four indoor galleries exhibit coastal animals in their natural habitats along the sandy shore, rocky shores, off shore coastal waters and salt march wetlands Pacific spiny lumpsuck ers. wolf eels, ratrfish pipefish and mud shrimp can be found in these habitats SEA OTTER EXHIBIT: Sea Otters, extinct on the Oregon Coast since the early 1900s. have not returned to the state Three Alaska sea otters rescued during the 1989 Exxon Valdex oil spill in Prince William Sound. Alaska, live in the aquari um's exhibit SEAL AND SEA LION EXHIBIT: Seals and sea lions are mainstays of Oregon's marine mammal commu nity Sea lions and five harbor seals currently live at the aquarium Their diet consists exclusively of fresh frozen food fit for human consump tion, and includes squid and smelt