Michelle Gates

Review of Birch Aquarium at Scripps

Not a giant aquarium like the Georgia aquarium or ...

Not a giant aquarium like the Georgia aquarium or Baltimore, but it's got a good seahorse exhibit and some good hands on areas for kids. It's small enough that you aren't going to easily lose little ones.

They set up lights and decorations for Halloween while we were there.

This aquarium is run by a research institution that does ocean surveys, so there was an emphasis on underwater submersibles and rovers that I have not seen in a lot other aquariums.

They had a lot of collected samples in jars on display too, but with signage that talks about the animals' 'superpowers' in a comic book art style.

North wing was devoted to aquatic habitats of the California coast with tanks of live animals, including jellies, a sea turtle, and a 300 lbs sea bass.

South Wing had a seahorse exhibit, an area about the Scripps Research missions with their rovers and surveys, and an area about animal Superpowers.

The superpower exhibit used a comicbook art style for the signage. It had collected specimins in jars rather than lots of live animals (many were for animals that would be difficult to keep alive in captivity due to living at depth). This area also had a hands on dress-up area for kids.

The third area is located outside, which had a lot of hands-on moving water areas for kids. For example, an area where you could turn cranks, peddle a bicycle, or use a see-saw to power a fountain. There are two water tables where kids can adjust the flow and race timy boats. There is also a shark and ray tank located in a separate enclosure next to this play area.

There are amazing views of the Pacific from this aquarium.