For those who are excited to get a closer look at northern California’s aquatic life, then there’s probably no better place to go to than the Aquarium Of The Bay in San Francisco. Visitors can treat themselves to close-up views of the over 20,000 marine creatures that are housed there. They include many kinds of ever-impressive sharks, mesmerizing jellyfish, playful river otters, contortionist octopus, and many, many more. It’s a wonderful place for family fun and education.

A Brief History of Aquarium Of The Bay

The aquarium first opened its doors in 1996, but was operating under a different name: UnderWater World. It had cost a whopping $38,000,000 to construct and boasted 4,000 creature from over 100 species, indigenous to the San Francisco Bay. It was impressive, even by today’s standards. After a period of financial struggles and a brief insolvency in 1999, UnderWater World was sold to new investors. The new owners increased the number of attractions and animals, and carried out an extensive remodeling of the facility.

They re-opened it under the name it bears to this day: Aquarium Of The Bay. This change of management is what put the facility on a path to being what it primarily is today, a non-profit, education, entertainment, and research center.

The Animals Of Aquarium Of The Bay

The facility boasts an impressively comprehensive list of marine animal species, and this is what puts it on such great footing as an educational and research center. Research activity, in particular, is greatly boosted by the capacity to hold creatures that are otherwise difficult to locate and observe in their natural habitat, either due to their rarity or reclusive nature.

For instance, visitors to the center will have the chance to observe more than 50 shark species, ranging from the Leopard, Broadnose sevengill, Swell, and Soupfin sharks, among the myriad of other intriguing species.

Aside from the sharks, the center also plays host to a variety of bat rays, skates, flatfish, rockfish, Kelpfish, Sculpin, Pricklebacks, Sturgeons, Gobies, and Wrasse. It’s enough to hold anyone’s attention for days on end.

Back in 2013, the center opened up its river otter exhibit to give people a chance to observe these frolicsome creatures. Of special note and popularity are what the facility refers to as their “Otter Snow Days”, where their enclosures have snow placed in them for a few days during the winter.

Exhibits And Activities Available

The Aquarium Of The Bay is segmented into three main sections, each housing its own unique collection of marine wildlife, and these exhibits each go under their own unique names.

1. Under The Bay

This is the aquarium’s largest exhibit, both in terms of size, as well as the number of creatures that are housed. It comprises over 300 feet of tunneling, and carries thousands of aquatic creatures and jellyfish. It was designed as a recreation of the San Francisco Bay itself.

2. Discover The Bay

This exhibit consists of a series of separate satellite tanks that house creatures such as Monkeyfaced eels, decorator crabs, perch, moray eels, as well as the California state marine fish, the garibaldi.

3. Touch The Bay

Within this exhibit, visitors are allowed to get up-close to the animals, and actually touch such creatures as the leopard shark, bat rays, sea stars, sea cucumbers, and anemones. These are aside from the myriad of reptiles and amphibians they have as well, such as newts, toads, frogs, and snakes.

4. All-Access Tickets

Visitors have the option of purchasing special “behind-the-scenes” tickets that grant them a tour of areas that are not open to the general visiting public. This includes holding tanks for newly arrived creatures, and the catwalk that stretches out above the aquariums. There is also a tour called “Feed The Sharks” where visitors can feed the different sharks on display.

Research Activities At The Aquarium Of The Bay

Ever since the most recent and current managers of the aquarium (The Bay Institute) came to control it, the Aquarium Of The Bay has involved itself in numerous research projects. Aquarium staff have aided in the tagging of sevengill sharks, as a way of learning their habits.

They have also worked closely in the past with a Smithsonian research drive, aimed at cataloging and eradicating an invasive species of kelp. They have gone on to participate in numerous research projects related to the study of elasmobranchs, specifically pacific angel and sevengill sharks. For anyone having grown up in coastal towns in California, such as Fremont, Oakland, and San Jose, all love the aquarium, which gives families something awesome to do together.

The Aquarium of the Bay keeps busy, and we can all be thankful that they do!