Birch Aquarium

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Birch Aquarium at Scripps
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Birch Aquarium at Scripps
Birch Aquarium
Date opened1903 [1]
Location Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, California
Coordinates 32°51′57″N117°15′2″W / 32.86583°N 117.25056°W / 32.86583; -117.25056 Coordinates: 32°51′57″N117°15′2″W / 32.86583°N 117.25056°W / 32.86583; -117.25056
No. of animals3,000+
No. of species380
Volume of largest tank70,000 U.S. gal (260,000 l) [2]
Annual visitors439,000+
Memberships AZA [3]
Website aquarium.ucsd.edu
Birch Aquarium Birch Aquarium

Birch Aquarium at Scripps (sometimes referred to as Scripps Aquarium or Birch Aquarium) is an aquarium and the public outreach center for Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego. [4] Accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, Birch Aquarium at Scripps has an annual attendance of more than 439,000, [5] including more than 40,000 school children, and features more than 3,000 animals representing 380 species. The hilltop site provides views of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography campus and the Pacific Ocean. The mission of the aquarium reads: "At Birch Aquarium at Scripps, we connect understanding to protecting our ocean planet". [4]

Contents

History

The original Scripps marine biological laboratory, 1910 Scripps marine biological laboratory, 1919.jpg
The original Scripps marine biological laboratory, 1910

The aquarium was established in 1903 after the Marine Biological Association of San Diego was created to conduct marine research in the local waters of the Pacific Ocean. (Its name was later changed to Scripps Institution of Oceanography to honor supporters Ellen Browning Scripps and E.W. Scripps, part of the Scripps family of newspaper pioneers.) The founders built and maintained a small public aquarium and museum to communicate their discoveries to the world. [1]

The researchers outgrew their modest laboratory in the boathouse of the Hotel del Coronado and moved to a small laboratory at La Jolla Cove in 1905. Several years later, the association purchased 174 acres (70 ha) at La Jolla Shores for $1,000 at a public auction from the city of San Diego. The first permanent building at the new site was constructed in 1910. Today the Old Scripps Building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [1] [6]

In 1915, the first building devoted solely to an aquarium was built on the Scripps campus. The small, wooden structure contained 19 tanks ranging in size from 96 to 228 U.S. gallons (360 to 860 l). The oceanographic museum was located in a nearby building. The institution's name changed to Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1925 to recognize the growing faculty's widened range of studies. [1]

The Scripps Aquarium-Museum opened in 1951 and named to honor former institution director T. Wayland Vaughan. The three-story facility served the institution for more than 40 years. A ring of 18 tanks, the largest at 2,000 U.S. gallons (7,600 l), surrounded a central museum of glass exhibit cases displaying Scripps research projects. Within a month of its opening, visitors from all 48 states had signed the guest book. [1]

In 1985, the Stephen and Mary Birch Foundation started a fund-raising effort for a new aquarium by donating $6 million. JCJ Architecture of San Diego was selected as the design architect [7] and in 1992, the current $14 million Birch Aquarium at Scripps opened its doors. UC San Diego donated the land. [1] Birch Aquarium at Scripps celebrated its 20th anniversary in September 2012 by introducing a new visual identity.

Exhibits

At 64,157 square feet (5,960.4 m2), Birch Aquarium at Scripps is designed around a central lobby with entrances to exhibit areas. Display tanks contain 175,000 U.S. gallons (660,000 l) of seawater. [ citation needed ]

70,000-U.S.-gallon (260,000 l) kelp tank Kelp tank (Birch Aquarium at Scripps, 2007).JPG
70,000-U.S.-gallon (260,000 l) kelp tank

Hall of Fishes

Hall of Fishes features more than 60 tanks of Pacific fishes and invertebrates. The path along the Hall of Fishes follows the currents of the North Pacific Gyre, starting with tanks inspired by the Pacific Northwest, then tanks with organisms from California, followed by tanks with organisms from Mexico and Baja California, ending with tanks inspired by the Indo-Pacific. [8] The largest habitat is a 70,000-U.S.-gallon (260,000 l) kelp forest tank. [2] The tank can be viewed live online through the Kelp Cam. [9]

ElasmoBeach

Just past the Boundless Energy courtyard, is ElasmoBeach. ElasmoBeach is a sandy bottomed outside tank based on the sea floor of La Jolla. [10] This tank features various sharks and rays, including leopard sharks and pacific angelsharks.

Tide-Pool Plaza at Birch Aquarium Tidepool Plaza at Birch Aquarium.JPG
Tide-Pool Plaza at Birch Aquarium

Tide-Pool Plaza

Tide-Pool Plaza features three living tide pools where visitors can touch and learn about tide-pool animals with docents. Windows in the habitats provide up-close views of starfish, hermit crabs, sea cucumbers, lobsters, and other animals local to San Diego's tide pools. [11] The tide pool overlooks La Jolla and the Pacific Ocean.

Seadragons & Seahorses

In this exhibit, the Birch Aquarium promotes sea dragon conservation. In this exhibition you’ll find a multitude of fishes in the seadragon family such as seahorses, pipefish, sea dragons, etc. The Birch Aquarium has focused on this species’ rehabilitation because of the impacts that climate change and poaching have on the ocean. [12]

The exhibit features more than a dozen seahorse species and their relatives, a special seahorse nursery, and hands-on activities for all ages about seahorse biology. Birch Aquarium at Scripps is a world leader in seahorse propagation, reducing the need for other zoos and aquariums to collect from the wild. [13]

Oddities: Hidden Heroes of the Scripps Collections

This unique place in the aquarium is widely inspired by a comic-book designed exhibit that displays the odd qualities of the ocean and its species. In collaboration with the Scripps Oceanographic Collections, they uncover the superpowers of aquatic creatures, ranging from armor to supersight to electricity and the inspiration it's offered to cinema, medicine, engineering, and more. [14]

Beyster Family Little Blue Penguins

The Beyster Family Little Blue Penguins exhibit is named after the long-time supporters, Beyster Family, who generously gifted $1 million to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography and Birch Aquarium. This exhibit features little blue penguins that live in an 18,000 gallon penguin lagoon that imitates the coast of Australia and New Zealand where the little blues live. It also includes a small amphitheater that allows guests to observe the penguins, as well as a “discovery cove” for children to get a closer look at these penguins. [15] [16]

Boundless Energy

This is an outdoor playground that celebrates the innovative ways we can use natural forces to power our lives. Interactive stations explore ways to harness renewable energy from the sun, the wind, and ocean motion. Visitors can expend their own "boundless energy" at a play area for kids in which stationary bikes, hand cranks, and a seesaw powers a whimsical water sculpture. [17]

Awards and recognition

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of California, San Diego</span> Public university in San Diego, California

The University of California, San Diego is a public land-grant research university in La Jolla, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego is the southernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California, and offers over 200 undergraduate and graduate degree programs, enrolling 33,096 undergraduate and 9,872 graduate students. The university occupies 2,178 acres (881 ha) near the coast of the Pacific Ocean, with the main campus resting on approximately 1,152 acres (466 ha). UC San Diego is ranked among the best universities in the world by major college and university rankings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Jolla</span> Area in San Diego, California, United States

La Jolla is a hilly, seaside area within San Diego, occupying 7 miles (11 km) of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scripps Institution of Oceanography</span> Center for ocean and Earth science research

The Scripps Institution of Oceanography in San Diego, California, US founded in 1903, is one of the oldest and largest centers for ocean and Earth science research, public service, undergraduate and graduate training in the world. Hundreds of ocean and Earth scientists conduct research with the aid of oceanographic research vessels and shorebased laboratories. Its Old Scripps Building is a U.S. National Historic Landmark. SIO is a division of the University of California San Diego (UCSD). The public explorations center of the institution is the Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Since becoming part of the University of California in 1912, the institution has expanded its scope to include studies of the physics, chemistry, geology, biology, and climate of Earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leafy seadragon</span> Species of fish

The leafy seadragon or Glauert's seadragon, is the only member of the genus Phycodurus and is a marine fish in the family Syngnathidae, which includes seadragons, pipefish, and seahorses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New England Aquarium</span> Aquarium in Boston, Massachusetts

The New England Aquarium is a public aquarium located in Boston, Massachusetts. The species exhibited include harbor and northern fur seals, California sea lions, African and southern rockhopper penguins, giant Pacific octopuses, weedy seadragons, and thousands of saltwater and freshwater fishes. In addition to the main aquarium building, attractions at Central Wharf include the Simons Theatre and the New England Aquarium Whale Watch. More than 1.3 million guests visited the aquarium each year prior to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Black's Beach</span> Nude beach near San Diego, California, United States

Black's Beach is a secluded section of beach beneath the bluffs of Torrey Pines on the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla, San Diego, California, United States. It is officially part of Torrey Pines State Beach. The northern portion of Black's Beach is owned and managed by the California Department of Parks and Recreation, while the southern portion of the beach, officially known as Torrey Pines City Beach, is jointly owned by the city of San Diego and the state park, but is managed by the city of San Diego. This distinction is important as Black's Beach is most known as a nude beach, a practice that is now prohibited in the southern portion managed by the city of San Diego.

John Robert Beyster, often styled J. Robert Beyster, was an American scientist and entrepreneur, and the founder of Science Applications International Corporation. He was Chairman of the Board until his retirement in July 2004, and served as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) until November 2003. Beyster's primary areas of interest were national security and nuclear reactor physics. Beyster also founded two nonprofit organizations to assist organizations considering employee ownership: the Beyster Institute and the Foundation for Enterprise Development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roger Revelle</span> American scientist

Roger Randall Dougan Revelle was a scientist and scholar who was instrumental in the formative years of the University of California, San Diego and was among the early scientists to study anthropogenic global warming, as well as the movement of Earth's tectonic plates. UC San Diego's first college is named Revelle College in his honor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Walter Munk</span> American oceanographer (1917–2019)

Walter Heinrich Munk was an American physical oceanographer. He was one of the first scientists to bring statistical methods to the analysis of oceanographic data. His work won awards including the National Medal of Science, the Kyoto Prize, and induction to the French Legion of Honour.

The Rady School of Management is the graduate business school of the University of California, San Diego, United States. It was established in 2001. It offers full-time and part-time Master of Business Administration (MBA) programs, a full-time Master of Finance degree, a full-time and part-time Master of Science in Business Analytics degree and a full-time Master of Professional Accountancy degree. In addition, the Rady School has a Ph.D. program, offers non-degree executive development programs, and undergraduate courses including minors in business, accounting, supply chain and entrepreneurship & innovation. The Rady School of Management is the second-youngest professional school at UC San Diego.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ellen Browning Scripps</span> American journalist, philanthropist

Ellen Browning Scripps was an American journalist and philanthropist who was the founding donor of several major institutions in Southern California. She and her half-brother E. W. Scripps created the E. W. Scripps Company, America's largest chain of newspapers and patron of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, linking Midwestern industrial cities with booming towns in the West. By the 1920s, Ellen Browning Scripps was worth an estimated $30 million, most of which she gave away.

Hopkins Marine Station is the marine laboratory of Stanford University. It is located ninety miles south of the university's main campus, in Pacific Grove, California on the Monterey Peninsula, adjacent to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. It is home to ten research laboratories and a fluctuating population of graduate and undergraduate students. It has also been used for archaeological exploration, including of the Chinese-American fishing village that existed on the site before burning down in 1906.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">La Jolla Shores</span> Beach in La Jolla, San Diego, California

La Jolla Shores, with its northern part Scripps Beach, is a beach and vacation/residential community of the same name in La Jolla, San Diego, California. The La Jolla Shores business district is a mixed-use village encircling Laureate Park on Avenida de la Playa in the village of La Jolla Shores.

USS <i>Snatch</i> (ARS-27)

USS Snatch (ARS-27), well known as Scripps RV Argo after conversion to scientific research, was a Diver-class rescue and salvage ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy during World War II and in service from 11 December 1944 through 23 December 1946. Her task was to come to the aid of stricken vessels. The ship is better known from her scientific research role as the Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) research vessel RV Argo. It is that name, apparently not formally recognized by Navy that maintained title to the vessel, found in the scientific literature and public releases about her wide ranging research voyages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Scripps Building</span> United States historic place

The Old Scripps Building is a historic research facility on the campus of the University of California, San Diego in La Jolla, California. Built in 1909-10, is the oldest oceanographic research building in continuous use in the United States, and the historic center of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. It is also architecturally significant as a work of Modernist architect Irving Gill, and for its early use of reinforced concrete. It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1982. It now houses Scripps administrative offices.

San Diego-Scripps Coastal Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) and Matlahuayl State Marine Reserve (SMR) are adjoining marine protected areas that extend offshore from La Jolla in San Diego County on California’s south coast. The two marine protected areas cover 2.51 square miles. San Diego-Scripps Coastal SMCA prohibits the take of all living marine resources except that coastal pelagic species, not including market squid, may be taken recreationally by hook and line. Matlahuayl SMR prohibits the take of all living marine resources.

South La Jolla State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) and South La Jolla State Marine Reserve (SMR) are two adjoining marine protected areas that extend offshore in San Diego County on California’s south coast. The two marine protected areas cover 7.51 square miles. The SMR protects marine life by prohibiting the removal of marine wildlife from within its borders, while the SMCA limits removal of marine wildlife.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank E. Snodgrass</span>

Frank Edwin Snodgrass was a physical oceanographer and electrical engineer. He spent nearly all of his career working with Prof. Walter Munk at Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO). The Cecil H. and Ida M. Green branch of the University of California Systemwide Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics (IGPP), in La Jolla, California has been strongly linked to Scripps since the 1960s through joint faculty appointments, research interests, and shared facilities. Other IGPP branches can be found at the Los Angeles, Irvine, Santa Cruz and Riverside campuses. Snodgrass spent many years researching and measuring the ocean tides and waves. During his career he had opportunities to work with fellow scientists around the world, including collaborations through the IGPP campuses, with Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and with the National Institute of Oceanography in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Judith Munk</span> American politician

Judith Munk was an American artist and designer associated with Scripps Institution of Oceanography. She was inducted into the San Diego Women's Hall of Fame posthumously, in 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andreas Rechnitzer</span> American oceanographer.and scuba diving pioneer

Andreas Buchwald Rechnitzer was an American oceanographer. With Carl Hubbs, he discovered the striped yellow butterfly fish that served as the logo of the Birch Aquarium. He helped develop the first SCUBA diving training program for ocean scientists, which included such innovations as ditch-and-don, buddy breathing, and the buddy system. He was a member of the US Navy Office of Naval Research team that negotiated the purchase of the bathyscape Trieste, and was the scientist in charge of Project Nekton in 1960, during which the Trieste entered the Challenger Deep, the deepest surveyed point in the world's oceans. For this he received the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Award. He joined the scientific staff of the Chief of Naval Operations, where he was the Oceanographer of the Navy from 1970 to 1984, and was the Senior Scientist at Science Applications International Corporation from 1985 to 1998.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "History". ucsd.edu. University of California at San Diego. Archived from the original on June 5, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  2. 1 2 "Hall of Fishes". ucsd.edu. Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Archived from the original on April 20, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Currently Accredited Zoos and Aquariums". aza.org. AZA . Retrieved 19 February 2011.
  4. 1 2 "About Us". ucsd.edu. University of California at San Diego. Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  5. ↑ Robbins, Gary (22 January 2016). "Aquarium to follow Scripps' global expeditions". San Diego Union-Tribune. Retrieved 18 July 2017.
  6. ↑ "Old Scripps Building". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-07-10.
  7. ↑ "About". JCJ Architecture. Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  8. ↑ Birch Aquarium Exhibits. UCSD. 2017.
  9. ↑ "Kelp Cam — Live!". ucsd.edu. Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Archived from the original on May 21, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  10. ↑ "ElasmoBeach". Birch Aquarium at Scripps. UCSD. Retrieved 30 December 2017.
  11. ↑ "Tide Pool Display". ucsd.edu. Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Archived from the original on April 20, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  12. ↑ "Seadragons & Seahorses". Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  13. ↑ "There's Something About Seahorses". ucsd.edu. Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Archived from the original on May 24, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  14. ↑ Walsh, Nikki (2019-05-19). "Birch Aquarium's New Must-See Seadragons & Seahorses Exhibit". Tinybeans. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  15. ↑ "Beyster Family Little Blue Penguins". Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  16. ↑ Coast News wire services (2022-07-12). "The Coast News Group". The Coast News Group. Retrieved 2022-10-24.
  17. ↑ "Boundless Energy". ucsd.edu. Birch Aquarium at Scripps. Archived from the original on May 17, 2012. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  18. 1 2 3 "All Winners of the 2012 San Diego A-List". Archived from the original on 2012-09-02. Retrieved 2012-09-05.
  19. ↑ "2011 10News.com A-List poll". cityvoter.com. KGTV. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  20. ↑ "2008 10News.com A-List poll". cityvoter.com. KGTV. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  21. ↑ "2009 10News.com A-List poll". cityvoter.com. KGTV. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  22. ↑ "2010 10News.com A-List poll". cityvoter.com. KGTV. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
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