Aquarium of the Bay

San Francisco is world renowned for its breathtaking Bay views and iconic, water-bound structures including the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. However, until visiting Aquarium of the Bay, many visitors and residents alike are unaware of the diverse, mysterious and awe-inspiring life that thrives beneath the waves of San Francisco Bay, the largest estuary on the west coast of the Americas.

As diving in San Francisco Bay is undesirable due to its frigid temperatures and murky conditions, more than 600,000 annual visitors wisely choose to stay on dry land while diving beneath the surface, at Aquarium of the Bay. Aquarium of the Bay, a unique nonprofit nature center and San Francisco’s only waterfront aquarium, exhibits more than 20,000 aquatic animals from San Francisco Bay and its nearby waters.

Located literally steps away from San Francisco Bay, fresh water is pumped into the Aquarium daily, including its most iconic exhibit experience, where guests explore crystal clear acrylic tunnels, surrounded by sharks, rays, jellies and fishes of varying size, shape and color.

Aquarium visitors explore three major areas, featuring exhibits-within-exhibits in:

Discover the Bay, highlighting San Francisco Bay’s most colorful animals, juvenile fishes, a swirling school of anchovies and videos and information on the importance of the estuary;

Under the Bay begins with a new and mesmerizing jellies exhibit, featuring Moon Jellies and Pacific Sea Nettles. Visitors then enter the first of the Aquarium’s two iconic, crystal clear tunnels, filled with animals including “Bubbette,” a 300-pound Sea Bass, a rainbow of colored Rockfish, sex-changing California Sheephead, Pacific Angel Sharks and more. The Aquarium was the first in the country to successfully breed Pacific Angel Sharks in-house; the pups are currently living in the Aquarium’s behind-the-scenes “nursery”. The Aquarium’s second tunnel mimics life in the deeper waters of the Bay, featuring the mighty Sevengill shark, Leopard sharks, bat rays, Big Skates, striped bass, Soupfin sharks and others. In August of 2010, the Aquarium welcomed a 9.5 ft. long, 319 lb. female sevengill shark, one of the largest sharks it has ever exhibited. The Aquarium, which conducts extensive research on sharks in the San Francisco Bay, will eventually tag the animal and release it back to the exact point in the Bay where it was collected. Following the second tunnel experience, visitors get up-close with Bay Pipefish, a unique, local cousin to sea horses.

Touch the Bay gives visitors the literally hands-on opportunity to experience what Leopard sharks, bat rays, Swell sharks and skates feel like, as well as sea stars and other invertebrates. Land-dwelling animals with climate change messages to share, including Pacific Tree Frogs, California Kingsnakes, Western Pond Turtles and more can be found in the PG&E Bay Lab. An interactive station featuring hands-on science experiments and ongoing naturalist-led presentations and animal encounters rounds out this tactile exhibit.

Each day, visitors are treated to special events such as diver-led shark feedings, discussions on sustainable seafood, ongoing naturalist-led presentations in the PG&E Bay Lab and more. The Aquarium also offers twice-daily Behind the Scenes Tours, where visitors stroll the catwalks above the Aquarium’s exhibit tunnels, see animals not currently on exhibit and take a VIP peek into the Aquarium’s dive operations and laboratories.

About Aquarium of the Bay
Aquarium of the Bay is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit marine nature center affiliated with The Bay Institute. The Aquarium is dedicated to creating experiences that inspire conservation of San Francisco Bay and its watershed. It is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), and certified as a Green Business by the city of San Francisco. Additional information on Aquarium of the Bay is available at www.aquariumofthebay.org, and on The Bay Institute at www.bay.org.