Aquarium of the Bay, San Francisco

San Francisco truly was an experience, and in the few days we were there, I felt that we managed to see so many things. One of the highlights however was visiting the Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39, where all the marine animals of the surrounding waters are showcased in the aquarium. Fortunately for me, having a boyfriend with a Master’s degree in marine biology proved to be very useful, and I essentially got a VIP tour of the place! I managed to get some really cool shots of the amazing animals that we saw too, and so I thought I would write a post to accompany it!

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Go With the Flow

The first exhibit that we saw at the bay was called ‘go with the flow’, and had in it numerous different members of the jellyfish family. The aquarium presented these in a wonderful way, and had different coloured lights surrounding each of the exhibits so that you could easily identify the transparent, ghostly outlines of the animals.

A personal highlight however was the moon jellyfish (otherwise known as Aurelia sp.) simply due to the beautiful simplicity of the animal. Apparently, we get the same species in the UK, and with current climate change, we are likely going to see more of them in the not-so-distant future!

This exhibit was excellent for photography, especially the sea-nettles that were on display! If you ever wanted some cool shots of jellyfish, I cannot recommend this place enough!

Discover the Bay

This exhibit truly showcased numerous different animals that could be found just a few hundred metres out into the bay. One of the most beautiful fish was the bright-orange Garibaldi, the state fish of California. There was also a shoal of anchovies, which were very strange to see up close.

I managed to dive with them in the Canary Islands, and it must be said that seeing them in a small tank cannot compare to swimming directly through a shoal. We also managed to spot a giant pacific octopus, which simply was breath-taking.

I kept being reminded about Finding Dory however, and wondered whether it would try and help one of the fish escape…

The Sharks of Alcatraz

Sharks are often the first thing people associate with aquariums, and this exhibit showed off the different sharks that were present around the bay. The most common one we saw was the leopard shark, which was very small in comparison to other sharks. We saw this guy everywhere on our trip, and even featured in the penguin exhibit at San Diego Zoo!!

We also saw soupfin sharks, so called because of the meats uses. The flesh is used in multiple different cultures, ranging from tollos in the Canary Islands, to even ‘fish and chips’ here in the U.K as a cod substitute. Perhaps the most impressive shark however was the sevengill shark. One of the most ancient species in the world, with some close-relatives originating in the Jurassic Period, this shark looked like a living fossil and moved rather sluggishly. Sharing this tank were other smaller fish, such as sturgeon. I was amazed that they weren’t eaten by the sharks, but I suppose they simply live their lives by the phrase ‘fish are friends, not food’.

Touch the Bay

Housing some of the cutest animals, here we saw baby batrays and lots of other juvenile animals. These batrays were exceptionally cute, however Jack didn’t read the sign that said ‘one finger to stroke only’ and decided to put his whole hand in. Some marine biologist, eh?

We also saw lots of critters from the rocky shore, such as anen-anen-an-anemones and hermit crabs. We also saw an otter, which was just really cute to watch splashing around and feeding.