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