Shorelines - Summer 2013

MEMBER
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Director’s Note
Ocean Policy
M O N T E R E Y
MAGAZINE
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Seahorse Highlights
Summer Programs
B A Y
SUMMER
2013
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Helping Teens
A Q U A R I U M
SH RE
LINES
Be sure to experience the magic of The Secret Lives of Seahorses before it closes in September.
...there’s nothing
more beautiful
than the way the
ocean refuses to
stop kissing the
shoreline, no
matter how
many times it’s
sent away.
– Sarah Kay
Director’sNote
Julie Packard
Executive Director
If you’ve ever planted a vegetable garden, you know what it’s like.
You put your seeds in the ground and then…wait. For a time, there’s
no sign that they’ve taken root and are growing. Suddenly, the first
sprouts appear. Before you know it, your plants are climbing to the sky.
That’s what we’re seeing with the
education programs at the Aquarium.
Reaching young people, planting seeds
of inspiration to connect them with
ocean life, has been part of our mission
for nearly 30 years.
We knew from their faces that
they were having incredible experiences here—in our exhibit galleries
and Discovery Lab programs with
their classmates.
Now we’re starting to see amazing
results. Young women and men who
visited as children are graduating
from college into careers in the marine sciences and ocean education.
Some now work at the Aquarium,
passing the spark of their own passion on to new generations.
This is very exciting, and such a
validation of our capacity to make an
impact—on young peoples’ lives and
on the future of the oceans.
Our Children’s Education Endowment Fund, established in 2011, will
ensure that our commitment to
engage 80,000 schoolchildren each
year through education programs
and free visits to the Aquarium continues in perpetuity. Building this
fund is a top priority for us.
We’re guided by a growing body of
evidence pointing both to a crisis in
science education and a decline in
outdoor and nature experiences in
young peoples’ lives. In response,
we’ve reshaped our programs to
focus increasingly on teens, providing
them with emotional and intellectual
engagements with nature, positive
connections with role models who
value their contributions, and yearround experiences that extend beyond
the school day.
We’re giving them opportunities to
take leadership roles—among peers
and in their communities. And, as the
demographics of California and the
nation change, we’re reaching out to
schools whose students reflect the
growing diversity of our society.
Their stories inspire us all and
you can read about three of these
dynamic young people on page 10
of this issue.
We maintain a strong focus on
professional development opportunities for teachers, too, helping them
become more comfortable—and
more skilled—as science educators.
And we’re strengthening our relationships with preschool students
and their families, laying a strong
foundation in early childhood that
we hope will blossom into a lifelong
love of nature and ocean life.
Thank you for supporting our
vision. I hope you’ll continue to give
generously to our Children’s Education Endowment Fund so that we
can keep building a new generation
dedicated to protecting the oceans
on which we all depend.
www.montereybayaquarium.org
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Taking Action for the Oceans
Good News
for Shark Conservation
The Aquarium has, from the
beginning, been committed to
preserving healthy oceans and
protecting ocean wildlife. We’ve
undertaken long-term research
programs with several California
shark species, including
sevengills and great
whites. As an advocate
for ocean conservation
policy initiatives, we
were the lead sponsor of
legislation to outlaw the
shark fin trade in California. (The last legal shark fin will
be sold in the state on June 30.)
And we strongly support the Marine Life Protection Act, through
which California established a
network of marine protected
areas along our coast starting
five years ago.
In keeping with our mission to
inspire conservation of the
oceans by bringing visitors
face-to-face with living ocean
animals, since 2004 we
have introduced more
than 3 million people to
a half-dozen young great
white sharks that were
on exhibit for up to six
and a half months.
This spring, the California Fish
and Game Commission agreed to
evaluate whether the state’s
population of great white sharks
requires additional protection
under the state’s Endangered
Species Act. A similar process is
under way at the federal level.
We’re supporting both the state
and federal process with research
data and expertise. What we’ve
learned as part of a broad
research consortium of scientists
—from Stanford, UC Davis,
California State University Long
Beach and other institutions—
has generated the scientific data
being used to evaluate the status
of the white shark population in
our waters. The research, which
has benefited in part from the
participation of the commercial
fishing community in southern
California, is ongoing. It
has informed our current
understanding of white
shark migration patterns,
population size, nursery
habitat and contaminant levels.
www.montereybayaquarium.org
Cayenne-colored
chilipepper rockfish
gather in groups
above rocky reefs from
British Columbia to
Baja California. Most
adults hover in the
dark depths, where
they dine on krill,
squid and small
fishes. In spring and
summer, we see young
chilis taking shelter
in the kelp beds off
our coast.
Like other
rockfishes,
chilis sport
venomous spines.
We’ll continue to provide any
data we have so that the final
decision is based on the best
available science.
While the state process is under
way, we will not collect white
sharks for exhibit. It’s our hope
that, if appropriate, policies to
protect California’s white sharks
will allow for possible exhibit of
young sharks in the future, and
their release back to the wild. We
know from visitor studies
that seeing these animals at the Aquarium
has changed attitudes
and left many visitors
inspired to help protect
white sharks in the wild.
It’s also our hope that any new
protections will allow for continued research that directly contributes to our overall knowledge
of the health of the white shark
population here and in
Baja California.
It’s great to see so much public
interest in the fate of sharks. This
is a positive sign that attitudes
are shifting to recognize sharks’
vital contributions to the health
of ocean ecosystems.
Learn more about our Conservation
and Policy programs on our website.
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Chilipepper Rockfish –
A creamy white belly
melts into pinkish-red
sides, head and tail.
Sebastes goodei
Animal Tales
Our Loggerhead Sea Turtle’s
Travel Adventure
The new loggerhead sea turtle
hatchling in the Open Sea
galleries made a splash even
before it arrived here in
late December.
The lateral line runs
through a mottled,
bright red zone.
Chilis live at least 16
years—the oldest
reported was 35.
En route to Monterey, curator
Steve Vogel and his
rare passenger were
bumped from their flight
from North Carolina.
After a day’s delay, the
pair received the redcarpet treatment flying
back to California on US Airways. The sea turtle stayed by
Steve’s side in the cabin, kept
warm inside a carrier, atop a
towel covering a hot-water bottle.
The communications staff at
US Airways headquarters in
Phoenix made sure that everyone at the airline—from staff
at ticket counters and gates, to
flight attendants and pilots—
was aware that a very special
sea turtle had the
green light to travel
with them that day.
Crimson flecks pepper
an adult chili’s skin –
youngsters may be
pink, tan or olive.
In recent years,
reduced fishing has
allowed many rockfish
populations to recover
from low levels. But
when choosing rockfishes, be sure to ask
how they were caught.
Avoid all trawl-caught
rockfishes. Most
rockfishes caught by
hook-and-line are a
Seafood Watch Good
Alternative. Black
rockfish caught by that
method in the U.S.
are a Best Choice.
We shared details and
pictures of the entire
trip on our social media
sites, especially Twitter, where
feeds from #TravelingTurtle
quickly became popular. As the
journey occurred just before
Christmas, many people empathized with travel delays and
the desire to just make it home.
Since the turtle eventually will
be released back into the wild,
our aquarists are taking a
“hands-off” approach and don’t
hand-feed it or spend more
time with it than necessary.
They’ll continue to keep track
of the hatchling’s weight
through routine exams.
The turtle is one of
nine hatchlings rescued
in early 2012 by our colleagues with the North
Carolina Aquarium at
Pine Knoll Shores.
These turtles didn’t
make it back to sea with their
nest-mates, and were raised at
the aquarium.
All nine are on loan to aquariums around the country, where
they’ll live for up to two years
before they’re returned to
North Carolina, tagged
and released.
Our youngster is just over four
inches long and weighs less
than half a pound. By
the time it leaves Monterey, it could be more
than a foot long and
weigh up to 15 pounds.
We don’t know if it’s a
boy or a girl, though. Even experts can’t tell a sea turtle’s
gender until it’s around 10
years old.
Look for the Traveling Turtle in
the same gallery as the puffins
and other seabirds.
You can learn more on the
Exhibit Updates pages of our website.
www.montereybayaquarium.org
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Seaho
Ethereal leafy sea dragons are some of the rarest and most mesmerizing
species on exhibit.
Reflections on The Secret
Lives of Seahorses
Several remarkable species are part of e Secret
Lives of Seahorses special exhibition, one of the
nation’s largest and most diverse collections of
these fascinating and fragile fishes and their relatives. For nearly four years, the elegant garden
gates have been open, inviting you into our
most popular special exhibition ever. ey’re
closing after Labor Day, to make way for a new
cephalopod exhibit next spring.
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www.montereybayaquarium.org
Small but elegant dragon pipefish are relatives of seahorses and sea dragons.
here’s a look back at a few monumental
milestones, some of the most popular animals
and facts we learned from e Secret Lives
of Seahorses.
In 2012 our animal care team and a nurturing
weedy sea dragon dad achieved a feat reached by
only four other aquariums in North america:
the birth of a brood of sea dragon babies! More
than 80 of the inch-long fish—australian relatives of the seahorse—hatched in late July. (e
seahorse family is the only one in the animal
kingdom where males become pregnant and
Be sure to take another stroll through the beautiful garden
gates into e Secret Lives of Seahorses before this popular
special exhibition closes in September.
orSeS
Potbelly seahorses are among the 16 species on exhibit in e Secret Lives
of Seahorses.
give birth.) Some of the youngsters may go on
exhibit in late summer.
our aquarists also had success breeding a couple
of pipefish species and half a dozen species of
seahorses. Breeding the yellow banded pipefish
was a groundbreaking achievement because the
husbandry science with tropical pipefish is not
nearly as advanced as the science of breeding
seahorses.
A weedy sea dragon dad had a brood of babies while on exhibit—
a first for us.
male and female seahorses hover side by side,
mirroring each other’s movements and displaying bright colors. If the pair is a match, only
then will they rise up in the water column, tails
entwined, as the female transfers her eggs into
the male’s brood pouch for fertilization.
Don’t miss your chance to stroll through our
secret seahorse garden one more time before
e Secret Lives of Seahorses closes on
September 3.
is enigmatic family of fishes has a very elaborate courtship dance ritual. During breeding,
www.montereybayaquarium.org
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Summer’s coming! For Aquarium members that means more programs — a
at what you can look forward to this summer season. Please check the att
Aquarium
Adventures
Our popular summer programs return, with
plenty of dates and times offered so you
can experience them at your convenience.
As always, your membership entitles you
to special pricing. Advance registration is
required. Visit www.montereybayaquarium.org/adventures or call 866-963-9645.
Underwater Explorers
Ages: 8 to 13
Member Fee: $75
General Public Fee: $95, plus
Aquarium admission
Offered June 17 through September 2
Come dive with us! In this unique program, kids are introduced to surface
scuba with Aquarium dive staff in our
Great Tide Pool. They’ll meet amazing
animals while getting a fish-eye view of
the wonders of the bay. Basic swimming
skills required. No scuba experience
or equipment necessary, just a sense
of adventure!
Please note: The name, age, height and
weight of each participant is required at
the time of registration.
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www.montereybayaquarium.org
Summer Nights Sleepovers
Ages: 5 to adult
Member Fee: $75; General Public Fee: $95
Offered July 6, 27 and August 10, 24
Summer Nights Sleepovers are here again!
Starting at 6 p.m., enjoy special programs
and live music during Evenings by the Bay.
When the doors close at 8 p.m., explore the
Aquarium without daytime crowds. Enjoy
special programs and a light bedtime
snack. End the evening with a late-night nature movie before falling asleep in front of
your favorite exhibit. Wake up with the
fishes and enjoy a continental breakfast.
Family Sleepover
Ages: 5 to adult
Member Fee: $75; General Public Fee: $95
Offered September 21
Enjoy the Aquarium after hours and sleep
next to your favorite exhibit! We offer fun
activities throughout the evening, or you
can explore the Aquarium on your own. We
provide a bedtime snack and a continental
breakfast.
We also offer sleepovers throughout the
year for youth groups. Contact our Sales
and Reservation Center for details.
Special Tours
Whether you’ve just joined the Aquarium
or are a Charter Member, a tour is the
perfect way to enhance your visit and
learn something unexpected about our
exhibits and animals. Advance registration is required. Visit www.montereybayaquarium.org/adventures or call
866-963-9645.
Jellies Tour – NEW!
60 Minutes
Ages: 6 to adult
Member Fee: $12; General Public Fee: $15,
plus Aquarium admission
Get up close and personal with some of the
ocean’s most mesmerizing creatures.
Behind-the-Scenes Tour
60 Minutes
Ages: 6 to adult
Member Fee: $12; General Public Fee: $15,
plus Aquarium admission
Follow our guides through “Staff Only”
doors and learn about animal care, ongoing
research and much more.
nd more fun — for your family and friends to enjoy. Here’s a glimpse
ached member calendar or our website for more events and activities.
Family Tours
45 Minutes
All ages allowed
Member Fee: $12; General Public Fee: $15,
plus Aquarium admission
With our youngest visitors in mind, trained
naturalists tell stories about our most popular animals. Hands-on activities make this a
great choice for children under 8 years old.
Feed the Fish
30 Minutes
Ages: 6 to adult
Member Fee: $12; General Public Fee: $15,
plus Aquarium admission
Ever wonder what thousands of sardines
eat for lunch? Peek into our food rooms,
learn about different feeding methods,
then pitch in and help us feed some fish!
Feeding Frenzy
Ages: 8 to adult
Member Fee: $45; General Public Fee: $65,
plus Aquarium admission
Offered most Thursdays and Sundays
from 8:15 to 10:30 a.m.
What does it take to get our exhibits
ready for opening? Go on “morning
rounds” and see what our aquarists do
before visitors arrive.
Personal Guided Tour
90 Minutes
Ages: 6 to adult
Member Fee: $120 for up to six people;
$20 for each additional person
General Public Fee: $144 for up to six
people, plus Aquarium admission;
$24 for each additional person, plus
Aquarium admission
Personalize your tour experience with this
insider’s view of our galleries and behind
the scenes. Please call to schedule two
weeks in advance.
Returning for one final summer, “Think Big”
is an exciting musical production about the
importance of working together to reach a
common goal. This show is a visual delight
featuring one-of-a-kind puppets made
from recycled and repurposed materials
created especially for the Aquarium by
Chris Green Kinetics.
Summer Deck
Programs
Evenings by the Bay
Presented daily, June 22 through August 18, then weekends through Labor
Day on the Great Tide Pool Deck.
Family-friendly performances featuring
a dynamic cast and thought-provoking
material will entertain your entire family!
Debuting this year is a new musical about
how humans and ocean animals share
the same basic needs in order to survive
and thrive. This comedic romp showcases
an array of memorable songs that will be
sure to put a smile on your face.
Other live theatrical performances will be
featured at various exhibits throughout the
day. Check out our program guides for
daily schedules when you arrive.
Spend summer evenings on the bay with
extended hours until 8 p.m. on Saturdays
and Sundays, June 29-September 1. You’ll
get a few more hours to commune with
your favorite animals and enjoy special
programs, wine tasting and live music.
Our New Mobile App
Our free app helps you explore the
Aquarium and get the most out of your visit.
Download on the
AppStore
www.montereybayaquarium.org
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Anyssa Luna (third from right) met Jean-Michel
Cousteau (left) and Rep. Sam Farr (behind Anyssa)
at the Coastal America Student Summit in
Washington, D.C.
Gina Carrillo is now an environmental educator
at the Aquarium. She was part of our first teen
program at Pajaro Valley High School.
Anthony Barrios (right) represented Pajaro
Valley High at the Coastal America Student
Summit, presenting a report on the impacts
of ocean acidification.
Transforming Teens’ Lives When we launched our education
program at Pajaro Valley High School, we hoped to have a positive
impact on the lives of teens in the predominantly farmworker
community of Watsonville. Today, these students are fulfilling that
promise in extraordinary ways.
O
ur programs are not only successful
for their environmental impact; they
are influencing the students’ relationships with nature. Participants tell us
they’re more aware of, concerned about
and connected to the environment. Asked
“What was the biggest impact of the program on your life?” the top responses were
personal growth, greater self-confidence
and attaining new skills. Beyond this, 81
percent of the students have remained in
school. Of these, 60 percent are now in
four-year colleges or universities.
Since 2006, we’ve expanded our initial
effort to encompass all Watsonville high
schools and middle schools. Our program
was honored by the California Association
of Museums in 2012 with the inaugural
Superintendent’s Award for Excellence
in Museum Education that recognizes outstanding K-12 museum education programs.
We’re thrilled to introduce you to three
Aquarium program graduates who are making
exceptional contributions already.
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www.montereybayaquarium.org
Gina Carrillo Gina was part of our first education program at Pajaro Valley High
School. She studied the health of Elkhorn
Slough tributaries with the help of scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute and presented her findings
at national conferences. She helped create
our alumni program and came back to intern with us while she was enrolled at UC
Santa Cruz. She graduated with degrees in
environmental studies and education, and
has traveled to Bali and the United Kingdom
for field programs.
Last year, we hired Gina as a full-time
bilingual education specialist. “I could not
imagine myself in a more fortunate position,” Gina says. “I am ecstatic to begin
this new chapter in life, educating our
youth about the environment and
harnessing their incredible potential
to create positive change!”
Anthony Barrios Anthony has taken his
enthusiasm for the environment to UC
San Diego, where he’s now studying. He
was a program leader, representing Pajaro
Valley High at the Washington, D.C. Coastal
America Student Summit. There, and at
other symposia, he and his partners in the
“Fantoxic Four” presented research findings
on the effects of ocean acidification on
native and invasive crab species in
Monterey Bay — animals that are key
players in the marine food web. He is an
active member of our alumni program,
planning several events while also being
a leader and trainer in the high school’s
Wetlands Stewards program.
Anyssa Luna Anyssa is now in her freshman year at UC Santa Barbara. Last
spring, she was honored for her volunteer
commitment and positive impact on the
community with a César Chávez award
from the City of Watsonville. As president
of our Alumni Action Committee, Anyssa
helped plan environmental events for Watsonville, including a California Coastal
Cleanup Day and other activities at Pajaro
Valley High. She led other alumni in support of programs to help local teachers
learn how to incorporate projects involving
wetlands issues into their classrooms. Like
Gina and Anthony, she represented the
Aquarium at the Coastal America
Student Summit.
wh
Kit became a successful companion to many
rescued sea otters that we eventually returned
to the wild.
Gidget joins the ranks of our surrogate moms
and companion animals.
If Ivy adjusts well, she too will become a
companion to wild otters behind the scenes.
Sea Otter Update Now that the sea otters are back,
look for some new (and some familiar) furry faces.
D
id you know our female
exhibit animals have jobs?
They do, and their skill behind the
scenes as surrogate mothers and companions for stranded pups is a keystone
of our Sea Otter Research and Conservation program. Without their help, many
orphaned pups might not make it in the
wild, let alone mature and successfully
raise pups of their own.
When we lost Joy, Toola and Mae to
old age last year, we also lost their valuable skills as surrogate mothers and
companions. We still have Rosa and
Abby to help with pups behind the
scenes, but we needed a few more
female sea otters to fill the void.
Enter Kit, Gidget and Ivy! They’re the
newest otters you’ll see on exhibit. All
three were rescued as orphaned pups but
were unable to be released back to the
wild. They will now join the ranks of our
surrogate moms and companion animals.
You may remember 11-week-old Kit’s
debut in 2010 as the youngest pup to be
raised on exhibit. Featured in our “Otter
U” stories and videos, Kit became a successful companion to many rescued sea
otters that we eventually returned to
the wild.
We transferred Kit to SeaWorld San
Diego in June 2011 to hone her social
skills. Now she’s back as a young adult.
Earlier this year, we were thrilled when Kit
bonded to her first-ever stranded pup.
Did you know that we rescued and
raised most of the sea otters now on
exhibit at zoos and aquariums across
the United States? That’s the story with
4-year-old Gidget. We rescued this shy
animal in October 2008 and transferred
her to Aquarium of the Pacific about
two weeks later, when we determined
she couldn’t be raised for release
to the wild.
She’s back in Monterey as an
exhibit animal—and another potential
surrogate mother. We’ll work with
Gidget to improve her mothering skills,
such as efficiently handling a live crab
to feed both herself and a pup without
getting pinched.
Ivy’s our youngest otter and has a
lot to learn. At just over a year old, she
must adapt to the frequently changing
dynamics of the exhibit population,
especially when animals leave to raise
wild pups behind the scenes, then rejoin
the exhibit. If Ivy adjusts well, she too
will become a companion to wild
otters behind the scenes. When she’s 3
years old, we hope she shows appropriate maternal behavior and can also
serve as a surrogate mother in our
sea otter program.
You can learn more about our surrogate
otter mothers through new interactive
displays at the sea otter exhibit, as well
as in a new auditorium program, “Luna:
A Sea Otter’s Story,” which follows a
sea otter pup’s journey from rescue
to release.
Situated at the heart of the Southern
sea otter range, we are the only facility
that cares for orphaned and injured
sea otters. Support from our members
and donors makes this work possible.
Thank you.
at’s new
www.montereybayaquarium.org
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Celebrate the Ocean
with Us in Silicon Valley
Brooke Williamson
Tom Douglas
Yigit Pura
Jesse Ziff Cool
Dave Cruz
Join Executive Director Julie Packard, extraordinary chefs
and restaurants, and some of California’s finest winemakers
for our second ocean celebration on Saturday, September 14
in the beautiful gardens of the Allied Arts Guild in
Menlo Park.
O
Our Celebration of California’s
Ocean is an opportunity for you to
meet Julie Packard and hear about
the work we’re doing to protect
the ocean’s health and ocean wildlife.
You’ll also enjoy delicious food and
wine in the company of great chefs and
winemakers who share our commitment to
protecting the health of the environment.
This year’s chefs include our own culinary partner, Cindy Pawlcyn, who celebrates the 30th anniversary of her
legendary Mustards Grill in Napa Valley
—and who just opened Cindy’s Waterfront, the spectacular new restaurant at
the Aquarium.
She’ll be joined by some great chefs,
including past Cooking for Solutions
chef ambassadors Jesse Ziff Cool and
Tom Douglas. Jesse is a national leader
in organic cuisine and a strong supporter of our Seafood Watch program.
Tom is a three-time James Beard Award
winner from Seattle, and a winner on
Iron Chef America.
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www.montereybayaquarium.org
Other noted chefs joining in the
Celebration are Yigit Pura of Tout Sweet
Pâtisserie in San Francisco, a Top Chef
Just Desserts winner; southern California “culinary wunderkind,” Brooke
Williamson of Hudson House and The
Tripel; and Dave Cruz, who was chef at
Thomas Keller’s Ad Hoc and Bouchon
before starting Miles Restaurant, opening
this year in the Bay Area.
You’ll also enjoy food from the
renowned Chez Panisse Restaurant in
Berkeley and from Williams-Sonoma.
Wineries and winemakers include six
of Cindy Pawlcyn’s favorites: Suzanne
Groth of the Groth Winery in Oakville;
Ivo Jeramaz of Grgich Hills Estate in
Rutherford; Tracey Skupny of Spottswoode
Estate Vineyard & Winery in St. Helena;
Steve McIntyre of McIntyre Vineyards in
Monterey County’s Santa Lucia Highlands;
Bonnie Doon Vineyard in Santa Cruz;
and Domaine Carneros, which produces
award-winning sparkling wines in the
Napa Valley.
The Celebration of California’s Ocean
supports our Fund for the Animals and
programs to ensure a future with
healthy oceans.
Tickets, at $500 per person, are available through our Development office by
calling (831) 647-6811.
We hope you’ll join us for this fun
and memorable evening.
Location: Allied Arts Guild,
Menlo Park, California
Time: 6:00 p.m.
Tickets: $500 per person
($325 tax-deductible)
Contact: (831) 647-6811
Purchase your tickets today. This
event will sell out.
Loggerhead sea turtle
Caretta caretta
The distinctly patterned
loggerhead, one of seven
sea turtle species, lives in
waters throughout the
world. While we know a lot
about the lives of hatchlings and nesting adults,
thanks to electronic tags
we’re finally learning more
about the years in between
as they roam the oceans.
Sea turtles are especially
vulnerable to fishing nets,
plastic pollution, and predation by people and
wildlife on eggs and new
hatchlings. While there are
many protections in place
to safeguard loggerheads
and other sea turtles, the
threats are grave for
species whose lives know
no national boundaries.
Mysteries of the Deep
The deep-sea harp sponge is a genus of Chondrocladia. A little over 30 centimeters (1 foot) tall,
this sponge was photographed by MBARI’s roV Tiburon about 2,555 meters (8,400 feet)
below the ocean’s surface, in the Gulf of California.
T
o the casual observer, marine
sponges look almost like plants.
They’re attached to the seafloor
and don’t move, except when swept by
currents. Most obtain food by filtering
bacteria and other tiny particles out of
the sea water.
But a few deep-sea sponges are
different. Really different.
Like Venus flytraps, these unusual
species capture and eat live prey. Scientists think these uncommon sponges
may have evolved this way because
there is so little food in the deep sea.
In addition to developing a taste for
“live meat,” many of these deep-sea
sponges look like creatures from a science fiction novel. Just a few months
ago, a team of marine biologists, including MBARI researcher Lonny Lundsten,
announced the discovery of a new
species of deep-sea sponge with rows
of vertical branches that resemble harp
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www.montereybayaquarium.org
Unlike many sponges, that obtain food by filtering
microscopic particles from seawater, Chondrocladia
sponges capture and digest small shrimp and other
crustaceans that stick to the sponge’s translucent globes.
strings. Unlike many sponges, which live on
hard rock surfaces, the newly discovered
harp sponge uses root-like rhizoids to
anchor itself in the gooey mud of the
abyssal plain, 11,000 feet below the
ocean’s surface.
Although the harp sponge may look
unusual, what’s really weird is how it
gets food. Sticking out from each of its
vertical branches are thousands of little
spines. If a tiny, shrimp-like copepod
sweeps past the sponge on ocean currents, it runs the risk of being impaled
on these spines. In this case, the hapless
animal is enveloped by the sponge and
then slowly digested.
Among the features that give the harp
sponge its alien look are a series of
swollen spheres at the tops of its
branches. After collecting two harp
sponges and examining them under a
microscope, the researchers discovered
that they produce packets of sperm.
When the sponge is ready to reproduce,
it releases these sperm packets into the
passing currents. The packets are captured on the branches of other nearby
sponges, fertilizing their eggs. (Most
sponges are hermaphroditic, producing
both eggs and sperm.)
It has been less than 20 years since
scientists discovered the first carnivorous
sponge. Since then, MBARI’s remotely
operated vehicles (ROVs) Tiburon and
Doc Ricketts have captured video of
several of these amazing animals, including
one species they have dubbed the pingpong tree sponge. Who knows what other
strange creatures lurk in the dark
depths of the abyssal plains?
Kim Fulton-Bennett is a communications
associate for the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Research Institute (MBARI), www.mbari.org.
Business Partnerships, In-kind & Matching Gifts
Business Partners
Businesses are vital partners
in our endeavors. Their contributions help make possible
free Aquarium visits for over
80,000 schoolchildren each
year, as well as our innovative
education programs, new and
compelling exhibits and critical conservation research.
Business Leaders
$25,000 and above
ARAMARK
The Bank of America
Charitable Foundation
HSBC
Service Systems Associates
Union Bank
Whole Foods Market
Business Benefactors
$10,000 to $24,000
Alaska Seafood
Marketing Institute
Annieglass
Carmel Development
Company
Carmel Road Winery
Children's Miracle
Network/Salinas Valley
Memorial Hospital
Clover Stornetta Farms, Inc.
Earthbound Farm
Estancia Winery
Frank M. Booth, Inc.
Fry's Electronics
The Hess Collection Winery
Iceland Naturally
Niman Ranch
Nancy Eccles and
Homer M. Hayward
Family Foundation
Kaiser Permanente
Kellogg Supply, Inc.
Pebble Beach Company
Foundation
Safeway, Inc.
Shelby J. Smith, DDS
Vital Choice Wild Seafood
& Organics
Business Stewards
$5,000 to $9,999
Blueyou Consulting AG
California Olive Ranch, Inc.
The Dow Chemical
Company
Driscoll's
Finch Montgomery
Wright LLP
Granite Construction
InterContinental
The Clement Monterey
Mars, Inc.
Oak Park Unified
School District
Pacific Gas and Electric
Company
Passmore Ranch
Pike Place Fish Market, Inc.
Rudolph and Sletten, Inc.
Sierra Nevada
Brewing Company
TCHO Chocolates
Wild Planet Foods, Inc.
Business Patrons
$2,500 to $4,999
Chambers & Chambers
Evan-Moor Educational
Publishers
Nordic Naturals
Spottswoode Estate
Vineyard and Winery
Wells Fargo Foundation
Business Contributors
$1,000 to $2,499
Best Western Beach
Resort Monterey
Carmel Insurance Agency
Casa Munras,
A Larkspur Hotel
EHDD Architecture
Epicurean Group
Family inHome
Caregiving, Inc.
The Fishwife Restaurants
Holiday Inn Express—
Cannery Row
Hudson, Martin, Ferrante
& Street
Inns by the Sea
La Quinta Inn & Suites
Monterey Peninsula Inns
Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa
Morrison & Foerster
Foundation
Noland, Hamerly, Etienne
& Hoss
Odwalla
Passionfish
Portola Hotel & Spa
Premium Packing, Inc.
Richard T. Dauphine, MD,
Center for the Knee
and Shoulder
Santa Barbara Bank
and Trust
Scheid Vineyards
Stocker & Allaire, Inc.
Sunset Inn
System Studies
West Marine Products, Inc.
Business Affiliates
$500 to $999
Animal Jam
Aon Risk Solutions, Inc.
of Central California
Avatier
Bamboo Reef Enterprises
Big Creek Lumber Company
Bohnen, Rosenthal & Kreeft
Chris Wilson Plumbing
and Heating
Clif Bar and Company
The D. L. James House
at Searock
Engine Company 1, LLC
Green Star Produce
Marketing, Inc.
Kwik'Pak Fisheries LLC
Lucas J. Cellars
Marine Ingredients
Michael's Catering and Wild
Thyme Deli & Cafe
Monterey Bay Boatworks
MYO Pure Frozen Yogurt
NetApp Inc.
Rutherford & Chekene
Salas O'Brien
Engineers, Inc.
Salinas Surgery Center
Struve Financial &
Insurance Services
Tri-County
Business Systems
Valic
In-Kind Gifts
The following organizations
donated in-kind services
and products.
Inns of Monterey
Jackson Family Wines
KGO
KION
Le Creuset of America
McCune Audiovisual
Mission Hill Creamery
Monterey Plaza Hotel & Spa
Odwalla
Oregon Dungeness
Crab Commission
Passmore Ranch
Pebble Beach Company
Foundation
Penny Ice Creamery
Pucci Seafoods
TCHO Chocolates
Vital Choice Wild Seafood
& Organics
Whole Foods Market
Matching Gifts
The following organizations
donated through matching
gift and volunteer grant
programs.
A & B Foundation
Adobe
Aetna Foundation
Agilent Technologies
Alliant Credit Union
Foundation
AMD
Amgen Foundation
Apple
Applied Materials
AT&T Foundation
Atlassian, Inc.
Autodesk
Automatic Data
Processing, Inc.
Bank of America
Becton Dickinson
Foundation
Bloomberg L.P.
Boeing
Bristol-Myers Squibb Co.
CA, Inc.
Capital Group Companies
Cargill Salt
Chevron
Cisco Systems Foundation
The Clorox Company
ConocoPhillips Company
Dell
eBay Foundation
Electronic Arts Outreach
Emerson Electric Co.
ExxonMobil
GANNETT
The Gap, Inc.
Gartner
Genentech
General Electric Foundation
Google
W.W. Grainger, Inc.
The William and Flora
Hewlett Foundation
Hewlett-Packard
IBM Corporation
Illinois Tool Works
Foundation
Intuit Foundation
The James Irvine
Foundation
Johnson & Johnson
JP Morgan Chase
Juniper Networks
Kaiser Permanente
Kimberly Clark Foundation
Lam Research Corp.
LexisNexis
Liberty Mutual Insurance
The Oscar G. and Elias S.
Mayer Family Foundation
Merck
Microsoft
Morrison & Foerster
Motorola Mobility
Foundation
National Semiconductor
Corporation
Nikon Precision, Inc.
NORCAL Mutual Insurance
Company
Nordson Corporation
Oracle Corporation
Pacific Gas and Electric
Company
The David and Lucile
Packard Foundation
PepsiCo Foundation
Pfizer Foundation
Qualcomm
Roll Giving & Paramount
Community Giving
Rossi Family Foundation
Santa Cruz Seaside
Company
SAP
Sempra Energy Foundation
Starbucks Foundation
Texas Instruments
Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thomson Reuters
Thrivent Financial
for Lutherans
Time Warner
Union Bank
United Way of Central
New Mexico
Varian Medical Systems Inc.
Verizon Foundation
Visa
VMWare
Yahoo!
thanks
Alaska Seafood
Marketing Institute
ARAMARK
Buckley Radio
Carmel Road Winery
CCM&E
Classic Party Rentals
Earthbound Farm
EPIC Roasthouse
The Gene Schick Company
Gulf Coast Seafood
Coalition
Hog Island Oyster Company
Illusions of Grandeur
www.montereybayaquarium.org
15
Nonprofit
Organization
U.S. Postage
PAID
Monterey Bay
Aquarium
Foundation
Time dated materials enclosed
A Legacy for our Oceans
B
onnie Lockwood has a long history
with the Aquarium; she is definitely
one of the family. Having worked
at the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Research Institute for years on ocean
policy, she was able to put her degree in
environmental studies to good use. After
leaving the Institute, Bonnie became a
dedicated Aquarium volunteer and mentor.
Even now that she and her husband have
moved back to Fowler, Indiana, she still
makes time to visit Monterey in the winter
and volunteers during her old shift. Bonnie
and her husband have also been Aquarium
members since 2004—and her commitment doesn’t stop there. Recently, Bonnie
modified her estate plan to include the
Aquarium as a beneficiary.
supervising editor: Ken Peterson
art director: Jim Ales
vice president, development: Mary Mullen
senior designer: Debra Naeve
editor: Karen Jeffries
writers: Alison Barratt, Angela Hains,
Elizabeth Labor, Mika Yoshida
photo researcher: Kris Ingram
printing: Blanchette Press
Printed in Canada on FSC® certified paper
vol. 29 no. 2 summer 2013
16
www.montereybayaquarium.org
“I have passion for the Aquarium and for
conservation of the oceans, and to continue
to promote this is important to me, even
while I’m living in Indiana."
credits:
Brad Barry (9 center), Ann Caudle (4-5 illustration),
Peter Liu (cover), MBARI (14), Tom O’Neal (3), Michael
Patrick O'Neill/SeaPics.com (13), Kimberly Swan-Sosky
(10 left and right), Randy Tunnell (8 center, 9 left, 10 center),
Petrula Vrontikis (2), Randy Wilder/Monterey Bay
Aquarium (4-5, 6-7, 8 left and right, 11, 16), Jessica
Zollman (9 right). Celebrity chef portraits on page 12
provided by the chefs.
Calendar:
Mark Spencer/ Auscape / Minden Pictures (cover),
Charlene Boarts, Kira Stackhouse/www.nuena.com,
Randy Tunnell, Jennifer Elin Hugo, Erik Teetzel,
Ann Caudle Illustrations, P.J. Taylor, Randy Wilder.
When asked what motivated her to
leave a portion of her estate to the
Aquarium in her living trust, Bonnie
answered, “I admire Julie Packard. She
walks the talk and by making a gift to the
Aquarium in my estate plan I will be building on her leadership, leaving the Earth in
a much better place when I’m gone.”
To learn how you can leave a legacy for
our oceans in your estate plan or create a
charitable trust that can provide income,
reduce taxes and make a contribution to the
Aquarium after your lifetime, please contact
Christen Wise at cwise@mbayaq.org or 831648-7991. If you have already named the
Aquarium as a beneficiary, please let us
know so we may thank you and welcome
you to our Jane Steel Ocean Legacy Circle.
Winter hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Regular hours: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Holiday & Summer hours: 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Questions: Call the Membership office
at 831-648-4880 or 800-840-4880
Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.,
Pacific time.
shorelines® is published for members of the Monterey
Bay Aquarium; 886 Cannery Row; Monterey, California 939401023 P: 831-648-4800; F: 831-644-7554. ©2013 Monterey
Bay Aquarium Foundation. “Shorelines”, “Monterey Bay
Aquarium” and the kelp logo are registered trademarks
owned by the Aquarium. All rights reserved.