38. Newport Aquarium, 3/20/11

I know, most, if not all of you, have already visited the Oregon Coast Aquarium (OCA) at some point in your life, but I have not. I truly regret that I never took my boys when Keiko was still there. Today, though, I was able to experience personal encounters with sea life found on, under, and over the ocean – close to our Oregon shores. Natural animal habitats provided viewing opportunities, above ground and through underwater windows, enabling visitors to gaze into seldom seen worlds.


The Aquarium’s Passages of the Deep exhibit allows the visitor to literally immerse themselves in the ocean realm that exists right off the Oregon coast. A series of underwater walkways leads the visitor from the dark, quiet canyons of the Orford Reef, through the sparkling and teeming waters of Halibut Flats, and finally into the vast blue expanse of the Open Sea. As you pass through these three ecosystems, you symbolically move further into the Pacific Ocean, encountering vastly different animals along the way.


Sometimes known as a Musky Caiman, this is the smallest of the crocodilian reptiles (large males rarely grow longer than 5.2 feet) and can be found in the northern and central parts of South America, including Bolivia, Brazil, and Colombia. Like most crocodilians, the caiman has a heavily armored skin. Its head is narrower than other species, however, which is probably an adaptation that better enables the animal to burrow.

When visiting this habitat, you must linger for a moment and consider this fact: you are looking at the largest population of sea otters in the state of Oregon. This species was hunted to extinction in the Oregon wild over a century ago, with the last known individual being killed just off the Newport Beach in 1907. The economic value of the Sea Otter extends back to the very beginning of our nation. Today, this marine mammal is the focus of many different conservation and recovery efforts, particularly in California and Alaska.

There are many species exhibited in the Seabird Aviary. Some species, like the tufted puffin, sport breeding plumage or skin coloration that includes vivid colors and striking markings. The birds molt again in the early fall and replace their feathers with more drab colors for the rest of the year. Black oystercatchers are a shorebird species and live in rocky intertidal areas. They do not dive for fish, but chisel limpets, crabs, and mussels from tidepool rocks and break them open with their beaks. They are more graceful flyers than the relatively heavy-boned, diving seabirds, and are very vocal, using a series of shrill whistles and calls to communicate with each other.

A shoreline is how most human beings experience the ocean. Standing with your feet in the sand and staring out at the waves has inspired everything from epic poems to artistic masterpieces. It is from this vantage point that we can first experience the awe and mystery of the ocean. The Sandy Shores exhibit helps us not only recreate that awe-inspired feeling, but to understand the complexity of this teeming but narrow ecosystem where the land meets the water. Here, much of the life is hidden beneath the sand or in the cracks between rocks. Many surf zone animals bury themselves to escape the drying sun and the sharp eyes of shorebirds and marine predators. The animals of the Sandy Shores can also be so tiny they almost escape observation, but even the smallest still play a vital role in nature’s constant cycle of life.

At first glance, jellyfish may be so alien-looking to the human eye that it is hard for us to even think of them as animals. Jellyfish (or "jellies" for short) are an exceptionally old species. Surprisingly, they have changed relatively little in all that time. The Moon Jellyfish is one of ten nearly identical jellies in the genus Aurelia. In fact, the Moon Jellyfish and its relatives are so similar that you cannot tell them apart without taking a sample of their DNA. All of these jellies measure approximately 10 to 16 inches in diameter with thin tentacles that hang from below their nearly translucent bodies. Like other jellyfish, the Moon Jellyfish have the ability to deliver a sting through these tentacles, a feature which allows it to immobilize its prey such as plankton and mollusks. The sting causes little discomfort to humans, however, aside from producing a slight rash that will disappear after a few hours. If you wander the Oregon beaches after a storm, you will often find Moon Jellyfish washed up on shore.

When you visit our Coastal Waters exhibit, you may have to wait a moment or two to get close to the Sea Nettle display. Perhaps one of the most popular habitats in the gallery, these large jellyfish seem to have the ability to hypnotize us with their rhythmic undulations and the graceful spread of their lacy tentacles. Although jellyfish like the Sea Nettle can propel themselves using a form of jet propulsion where they squeeze water through the bells of their bodies, they cannot move quickly or pursue other animals. They must feed as they drift on the ocean’s currents, spreading their tentacles out like nets to catch fish and other unsuspecting prey. Once an animal has been immobilized by the Sea Nettle’s sting, special tentacles called “oral arms” begin digesting it even before it has reached the jellyfish’s mouth. Despite this potent sting, Sea Nettles present no real danger to human beings and are often eaten by seabirds and large fish. This by far was my favorite exhibit of the day.

Of course, what trip to the beach is complete without a stop at Dory Cover for some clam chowder as well as Halibut fish and chips. I have to say thanks to Jan for spending the day with me; I had a great time!