Bay Area science museums, zoos back in business
Visitors enter the Oakland Zoo to view "Zoofari" lantern show
Dave Boitano/photo
After a second lengthy shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, science museums and zoos in the San Francisco Bay Area are reopening.
The California Academy of Sciences will throw open it’s doors on March 15-16 for members only and open to the general public on March 17.
Academy officials decided to resume welcoming guests after getting clearance from the San Francisco Public Health Department which has been enforcing closures during periods of high virus outbreaks and related hospitalizations.
As the number of cases has steadily declined over the past month, the state Department of Health loosened restrictions on the City and County of San Francisco and Alameda County. Museums will be allowed to reopen and indoor dining will resume in restaurants subject to limits on the number of diners and other restrictions.
Once the COVID-19 crisis began, the academy closed on March 12, 2020 and remained in shutdown mode for seven months.
Because ticket sales account for a big chunk of the academy’s revenue, officials made major cuts to offset a projected $12 million revenue decline. One hundred five employees were permanently laid off, 96 were furloughed and 165 workers had their salaries cut.
The academy reopened on Oct. 13 but was closed again on Nov. 29 after a major virus outbreak caused by people gathering without proper protection during the Thanksgiving holidays.
Despite the revenue drop, academy staff cared for the museum’s animals while curtailing other expenses, said Chief Financial Officer Mike McGee.
“We are very lean right now but we will survive this and we are looking forward to reopening to the public on March 17 with advance access for members on March 15 and March 16.”
Aquarium of the Bay located near San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, is also open. The Monterey Bay Aquarium remains closed as does Oakland’s Chabot Space and Science Center.
Zoos in San Francisco and Oakland have fared better and have remained open longer because most exhibits are outside. Health officials have said that coronavirus droplets given off by infected individuals, are less likely to infect others because they are dispersed by wind.
Oakland Zoo has seen a dramatic upturn in attendance due to its “Zoofari” light exhibit which has been sold out most nights.
To protect guests, the academy will continue a series of restrictions put in place during the fall 2020 reopening.
Guests must reserve tickets in advance and total attendance will be restricted to 20 percent of pre-pandemic capacity. All visitors over the age of three must wear protective masks and anyone suffering from virus like symptoms are urged to stay home.
To prevent close contact in crowds, the Morrison Planetarium, Naturalist Center, Curiosity Grove and Discovery Tidepool will be closed until further notice.
Entry to the Osher indoor Rainforest and the Shake House earthquake simulator will be by reservation only to limit crowd size.
Lectures within the building have been put on hold though live online streaming of talks “The Breakfast Club” “Nightschool” and “Big Astronomy” will continue on YouTube.
The California Academy of Sciences will throw open it’s doors on March 15-16 for members only and open to the general public on March 17.
Academy officials decided to resume welcoming guests after getting clearance from the San Francisco Public Health Department which has been enforcing closures during periods of high virus outbreaks and related hospitalizations.
As the number of cases has steadily declined over the past month, the state Department of Health loosened restrictions on the City and County of San Francisco and Alameda County. Museums will be allowed to reopen and indoor dining will resume in restaurants subject to limits on the number of diners and other restrictions.
Once the COVID-19 crisis began, the academy closed on March 12, 2020 and remained in shutdown mode for seven months.
Because ticket sales account for a big chunk of the academy’s revenue, officials made major cuts to offset a projected $12 million revenue decline. One hundred five employees were permanently laid off, 96 were furloughed and 165 workers had their salaries cut.
The academy reopened on Oct. 13 but was closed again on Nov. 29 after a major virus outbreak caused by people gathering without proper protection during the Thanksgiving holidays.
Despite the revenue drop, academy staff cared for the museum’s animals while curtailing other expenses, said Chief Financial Officer Mike McGee.
“We are very lean right now but we will survive this and we are looking forward to reopening to the public on March 17 with advance access for members on March 15 and March 16.”
Aquarium of the Bay located near San Francisco’s Fisherman’s Wharf, is also open. The Monterey Bay Aquarium remains closed as does Oakland’s Chabot Space and Science Center.
Zoos in San Francisco and Oakland have fared better and have remained open longer because most exhibits are outside. Health officials have said that coronavirus droplets given off by infected individuals, are less likely to infect others because they are dispersed by wind.
Oakland Zoo has seen a dramatic upturn in attendance due to its “Zoofari” light exhibit which has been sold out most nights.
To protect guests, the academy will continue a series of restrictions put in place during the fall 2020 reopening.
Guests must reserve tickets in advance and total attendance will be restricted to 20 percent of pre-pandemic capacity. All visitors over the age of three must wear protective masks and anyone suffering from virus like symptoms are urged to stay home.
To prevent close contact in crowds, the Morrison Planetarium, Naturalist Center, Curiosity Grove and Discovery Tidepool will be closed until further notice.
Entry to the Osher indoor Rainforest and the Shake House earthquake simulator will be by reservation only to limit crowd size.
Lectures within the building have been put on hold though live online streaming of talks “The Breakfast Club” “Nightschool” and “Big Astronomy” will continue on YouTube.
Viewing wildlife in your home
Aquariums, zoos and science museums are closed to prevent the spread of coronavirus, but there are still plenty of ways to gain knowledge and experience the beauty of the animal world.
Most institutions have webcams that stream live images of everything from aquarium fish to elephants in real time. Others have assembled pre-recorded segments of lectures or highlights of streamed images for those who are too impatient to wait for the animals to appear.
Here is a sampling of the best online science programs and websites.
Explore.org
Is a nonprofit that links to dozens of live stream views of both wild animals and pets. Viewers can chose to watch birds, sharks, bears or rescued cats snoozing in their cat beds. Now is the best time to watch a golden eagle feeding her chicks in an Iowa nest.
Wild Earth—Safari Live
All the excitement of being on a real safari without the expense and 16-hour plane ride to get there. Guides drive jeeps along African game trails in search of lions, hyenas and leopards. The camera is situated in the back of the vehicle giving the viewer the feeling of being there. The drivers are very knowledgeable and online participants ask them questions via instant messaging.
Because it’s Africa, the time in reversed with the trips starting during nighttime hours here in the U.S. The site also features videos of memorable safaris, a line of clothing and a subscription to a series about big cats that took years to produce.
Aquariums
Georgia Aquarium
Is the nation’s largest and is so big it can house giant whale sharks and beluga whales. Check out the wonderful white belugas as they glide past the camera. Another winner is the piranha tank where the deadly fish hover listlessly. Haven’t seen them being fed yet but I’m sure it’s memorable.
Aquarium of the Pacific
A small facility located in Long Beach, California. But it boasts some of the best live view opportunities, including a colorful shark lagoon tank and a blue cavern display.
Shedd Aquarium
Located on Lake Michigan in Chicago, Shedd contains one of the largest collection of fresh and salt water aquatic life in the nation. The exhibit, “underwater beauty,” is designed to showcase how fish adapt to their environment and displays their colorful beauty. The live cam lives up to that billing and it not to missed.
Monterey Bay Aquarium
It’s by far the biggest tourist attraction in Monterey, California. The aquarium houses creatures native to Monterey Bay, a complex marine ecosystem thousands of feet deep that nourishes migrating whales, sea otters and sharks. Best viewing here is the open sea exhibit that includes exotic sunfish and the jelly live cam where jellyfish undulate to new age background music.
Zoos
San Diego Zoo
No visit to San Diego is complete without a trip to the city’s zoo. Hundreds of animals inhabit the zoo and Safari Park, which is located 35 miles away in Escondido. There’s a variety of webcams to choose from. Among the best are the giraffe cam (where rhinos regularly hang out) the polar bear cam and the burrowing owls.
Bronx Zoo
Is New York’s finest and is part of a system that also includes the New York Aquarium, Central Park Zoo, Queens Zoo, and Prospect Park Zoo. Since closing, the staff has created a “virtual zoo” featuring videos of how keepers care for camels and train sea lions. A “moment of Zen” features pink flamingos and is designed to calm the viewer. Be sure to check out webcams of the zoo’s bird house and caged lemurs.
Museums
California Academy of Sciences
Located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, the academy features an indoor rainforest, digital planetarium, natural history museum and aquarium. Live webcams show penguins in their indoor enclosure, a reef lagoon and the Farallon Islands, a unique rocky chain off San Francisco. The island cam changes direction frequently and one view shows sea lions playing in a cove.
In a series of “breakfast club” videos shown on YouTube, scientists talk about their areas of study. Of special interest is virologist Shannon Bennett talking about parasites and Morrison Planetarium Director Ryan Wyatt taking viewers on a trip through outer space.
Birds
Peregrine Falcons
A pair of peregrine falcons are nesting atop the UC Berkeley Campanile, a 200- foot bell tower and fossil repository on the college campus. The birds have become celebrities since a webcam was installed and viewers can now see the female nurturing her chicks.
This is only a partial list of resources. If you have a favorite webcam or video, contact me through: editor@scienceinview.com and I will add it to the list.
__Dave Boitano
Take a walk with giants
The ecosystems that comprise the San Francisco Bay Area’s natural environment are the focus of a new exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences.
Redwood trees, whales and earthquakes may not seem connected but after seeing “Giants of Land and Sea,” visitors will understand the natural forces that work in harmony to sustain these fixtures of local life. The exhibit opened Friday, June 15 at the academy, located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
“This is really about connected systems that are on the Northern California coast that make this place we live in so unique,” said Scott Moran, the academy’s director of exhibits.
The exhibit occupies the space previously used for “The Color of Life,” the academy’s last big in-house produced show. For the first time, display captions are written in four languages, English, Spanish, Chinese and Filipino.
To bring the coastal nature story to life, designers drew upon much of the academy’s existing resources, including an extensive collection of marine mammal skeletons and an earthquake simulation chamber that was part of a separate earthquake exhibit.
Towering over the display area is a 50 foot skeleton of a blue whale that was brought to the academy in 1908. It has been hanging there since the building was reopened after a complete redesign in 2008. Prior to that the whale was displayed in a huge shed outside the main building.
The deceased cetacean is an integral element of the show and inspired the approach designers would take in creating the exhibit.
“We wanted to do an exhibit on California,” Moran said. “It’s in our name but the challenge was California is huge.”
“We had a blue whale overhead so we decided why not focus it towards the coastline and we can make sure to bring in the blue whale. It’s such a beautiful specimen.”
Skeletons of marine mammals including the jaws of whales and fully-articulated seals and sea lions are on display. Look at a nearby wall and you will see hundreds of California Sea Lion skulls from the collection of the late Raymond “Bones” Bandar, an academy volunteer who collected more than 6,000 animal skulls during more than 60 years of scouring beaches for remains.
He amassed the greatest collection of California Sea lion skulls and now 28 academy volunteers are moving his remaining specimens to the academy from his San Francisco home, said Maureen “Mo” Flannery, collections manager for birds and mammals.
The large elephant seal skeleton rearing up within the display is most likely the only specimen of its kind on display anywhere, Flannery said.
So why not simply display plastic models of the animals like other museums and aquariums? Flannery was asked.
Showing the genuine article, even in skeletal form, is part of the academy’s commitment as a research institution she said.
“We wanted people to see the interior workings and skeletons are beautiful,” she added. “The outside of the animal is beautiful but the skeleton shows you a whole different side.”
Fog, that atmospheric staple of San Francisco during the summer, also has a role in the “Giants” story. Designers have created a fog chamber where a thick mist descends upon visitors within moments after entering.
Is hard to see the hand in front of your face for a few seconds, and Moran said the effect is created by vibrating ultrasonic devices interacting with water in the chamber.
Fog provides a vital water source for California’s towering redwood trees which are well represented in the display.
An 8,500 pound cross section of a giant redwood that began growing around the year 1200, shows visitors just how big these trees can get. The tree was toppled during a 2011 storm. And the sample came from redwood’s higher branches, according to Moran.
“If we tried to show the base of the tree it wouldn’t even fit in the building,” he said.
Exhibit designers obtained the tree with the help of the Save the Redwoods League, a conservation organization that protects old-growth redwoods. Preserving the trees is important because of the two million acres of original redwood forest only 5 percent is left, said the organization’s Rosemary Cameron.
“We are trying to get millions of people out into the redwoods so that they can experience the peace and grandeur and gain a keen understanding of why their preservation is so important.”
Along with the tree section, the exhibit features an ultra-high definition video of researchers climbing the trunk of a huge redwood. The video was shot in a forest in Del Norte County using photographic drones and provides a stunning image of how small we humans are compared with nature’s giants.
Redwood trees, whales and earthquakes may not seem connected but after seeing “Giants of Land and Sea,” visitors will understand the natural forces that work in harmony to sustain these fixtures of local life. The exhibit opened Friday, June 15 at the academy, located in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park.
“This is really about connected systems that are on the Northern California coast that make this place we live in so unique,” said Scott Moran, the academy’s director of exhibits.
The exhibit occupies the space previously used for “The Color of Life,” the academy’s last big in-house produced show. For the first time, display captions are written in four languages, English, Spanish, Chinese and Filipino.
To bring the coastal nature story to life, designers drew upon much of the academy’s existing resources, including an extensive collection of marine mammal skeletons and an earthquake simulation chamber that was part of a separate earthquake exhibit.
Towering over the display area is a 50 foot skeleton of a blue whale that was brought to the academy in 1908. It has been hanging there since the building was reopened after a complete redesign in 2008. Prior to that the whale was displayed in a huge shed outside the main building.
The deceased cetacean is an integral element of the show and inspired the approach designers would take in creating the exhibit.
“We wanted to do an exhibit on California,” Moran said. “It’s in our name but the challenge was California is huge.”
“We had a blue whale overhead so we decided why not focus it towards the coastline and we can make sure to bring in the blue whale. It’s such a beautiful specimen.”
Skeletons of marine mammals including the jaws of whales and fully-articulated seals and sea lions are on display. Look at a nearby wall and you will see hundreds of California Sea Lion skulls from the collection of the late Raymond “Bones” Bandar, an academy volunteer who collected more than 6,000 animal skulls during more than 60 years of scouring beaches for remains.
He amassed the greatest collection of California Sea lion skulls and now 28 academy volunteers are moving his remaining specimens to the academy from his San Francisco home, said Maureen “Mo” Flannery, collections manager for birds and mammals.
The large elephant seal skeleton rearing up within the display is most likely the only specimen of its kind on display anywhere, Flannery said.
So why not simply display plastic models of the animals like other museums and aquariums? Flannery was asked.
Showing the genuine article, even in skeletal form, is part of the academy’s commitment as a research institution she said.
“We wanted people to see the interior workings and skeletons are beautiful,” she added. “The outside of the animal is beautiful but the skeleton shows you a whole different side.”
Fog, that atmospheric staple of San Francisco during the summer, also has a role in the “Giants” story. Designers have created a fog chamber where a thick mist descends upon visitors within moments after entering.
Is hard to see the hand in front of your face for a few seconds, and Moran said the effect is created by vibrating ultrasonic devices interacting with water in the chamber.
Fog provides a vital water source for California’s towering redwood trees which are well represented in the display.
An 8,500 pound cross section of a giant redwood that began growing around the year 1200, shows visitors just how big these trees can get. The tree was toppled during a 2011 storm. And the sample came from redwood’s higher branches, according to Moran.
“If we tried to show the base of the tree it wouldn’t even fit in the building,” he said.
Exhibit designers obtained the tree with the help of the Save the Redwoods League, a conservation organization that protects old-growth redwoods. Preserving the trees is important because of the two million acres of original redwood forest only 5 percent is left, said the organization’s Rosemary Cameron.
“We are trying to get millions of people out into the redwoods so that they can experience the peace and grandeur and gain a keen understanding of why their preservation is so important.”
Along with the tree section, the exhibit features an ultra-high definition video of researchers climbing the trunk of a huge redwood. The video was shot in a forest in Del Norte County using photographic drones and provides a stunning image of how small we humans are compared with nature’s giants.
Video courtesy of the California Academy of Sciences
"Twilight Zone: Deep Reefs Revealed" is more than just an exhibit
Photo courtesy of the California Academy of Sciences
The California Academy of Sciences is known for colorful and engaging displays but the latest exhibit is more than just a collection of sea creatures and bright computer graphics. It’s more like a story told to visitors as they walk through the darkened exhibit space at the academy’s Steinhart Aquarium.
“Twilight Zone: Deep Reefs Revealed,” now on display is sure to keep its audiences fascinated learning about an oceanic frontier more mysterious and unexplored than the surface of the Moon.
Like any good story, the exhibit has engaging characters who journey where no one has gone before and return to tell the tale. They are divers Luiz Rocha and Bart Shepherd, who admit that they work well together 500 feet below the surface and on dry land.
Rocha, an academy ichthyologist and Shepherd, director of Steinhart, dove into the shadowy depths in the Philippines the last two years collecting fish and corals for this display. A full size mockup of a diver in full gear is testimony to the difficulty of working at such a depth.
An elaborate black scuba outfit with multiple helium-filled tanks, depth gauges and a rebreather system confirms that this equipment is not for casual dives. It also confirms that Rocha and Shepherd are more like underwater astronauts than just scientists catching fish.
And like astronauts, the men are two of only a handful of humans who have ever ventured into these deep Mesozoic reefs. “We are part of a select group of people who have ever set eyes on these things,” Shepherd said, “They are very sensitive to light and few people will have the opportunity to see them.”
Nearby, fish and invertebrates move about in dimly lit tanks which cast a blue hue evocative of their natural environment. Shepherd pointed out a colorful comb jelly which undulated as if floating through the air. Dubbed “sea peeps” for their resemblance to Easter candy, the creatures are the first to be displayed in any aquarium outside of Japan.
Shepherd lightheartedly took issue the way the Japanese biologists obtained their jellies. “They collected them with a submarine which is cheating,” he said, “We collected ours by hand.”
Diving at 400 feet requires extensive training and certifications which most scientists are unwilling to do, Rocha said. That has allowed the dive team to collect dozens of unknown fish and coral species. While adding two similar fish collected at different times into a single tank, he noticed that the second fish had different coloring than the first; evidence of a new species.
“This is how much we don’t know about these deep reefs,” he said. “You could go there blindfold your eyes, collect things randomly and half of what you collect will be a new species.”
A long plastic cylinder in a nearby display is testament to the care the divers take in bringing live animals to the surface. Deep diving fish, which stay afloat by means of a swim bladder, will die from changes in water pressure as their bladder expands at shallower depths. Normally scientists offset the pressure by puncturing the animal’s bladder with a hypodermic needle underwater forcing bubbles out.
“Being an aquarium person since I was six years old, I don’t like poking holes in fish,” Shepherd said. The cylinder is a decompression chamber that holds the fish in two gallons of water. It is sealed at 200 feet and brought to the surface where academy staffers slowly release the pressure over several days until the fish are completely decompressed.
The exhibit is the first alteration of the aquarium since the academy building reopened in 2008. The decoration and lighting give the area a distinct atmospheric feeling unlike Steinhart’s other displays. Along with the hard science, visitors can recreate bioluminescence by waving their hands over a light display and a video game in which the player swims through the water collecting fish adds an element of fun.
But one question remains. How can the divers remain calm knowing that they are several hundred feet below the surface in such an alien environment?
Shepherd has logged more than 270 hours in the deep sea. A good dive team and experienced dive safety officer help build confidence, he says but it was not always that way.
“When I first started I had a lot of anxiety as you look over the ledge and start to make your descent. And I definitely felt that in the first deep dives but with proficiency it’s like anything else you put in the hours and you are comfortable. “
Now that’s a story.
“Twilight Zone: Deep Reefs Revealed,” now on display is sure to keep its audiences fascinated learning about an oceanic frontier more mysterious and unexplored than the surface of the Moon.
Like any good story, the exhibit has engaging characters who journey where no one has gone before and return to tell the tale. They are divers Luiz Rocha and Bart Shepherd, who admit that they work well together 500 feet below the surface and on dry land.
Rocha, an academy ichthyologist and Shepherd, director of Steinhart, dove into the shadowy depths in the Philippines the last two years collecting fish and corals for this display. A full size mockup of a diver in full gear is testimony to the difficulty of working at such a depth.
An elaborate black scuba outfit with multiple helium-filled tanks, depth gauges and a rebreather system confirms that this equipment is not for casual dives. It also confirms that Rocha and Shepherd are more like underwater astronauts than just scientists catching fish.
And like astronauts, the men are two of only a handful of humans who have ever ventured into these deep Mesozoic reefs. “We are part of a select group of people who have ever set eyes on these things,” Shepherd said, “They are very sensitive to light and few people will have the opportunity to see them.”
Nearby, fish and invertebrates move about in dimly lit tanks which cast a blue hue evocative of their natural environment. Shepherd pointed out a colorful comb jelly which undulated as if floating through the air. Dubbed “sea peeps” for their resemblance to Easter candy, the creatures are the first to be displayed in any aquarium outside of Japan.
Shepherd lightheartedly took issue the way the Japanese biologists obtained their jellies. “They collected them with a submarine which is cheating,” he said, “We collected ours by hand.”
Diving at 400 feet requires extensive training and certifications which most scientists are unwilling to do, Rocha said. That has allowed the dive team to collect dozens of unknown fish and coral species. While adding two similar fish collected at different times into a single tank, he noticed that the second fish had different coloring than the first; evidence of a new species.
“This is how much we don’t know about these deep reefs,” he said. “You could go there blindfold your eyes, collect things randomly and half of what you collect will be a new species.”
A long plastic cylinder in a nearby display is testament to the care the divers take in bringing live animals to the surface. Deep diving fish, which stay afloat by means of a swim bladder, will die from changes in water pressure as their bladder expands at shallower depths. Normally scientists offset the pressure by puncturing the animal’s bladder with a hypodermic needle underwater forcing bubbles out.
“Being an aquarium person since I was six years old, I don’t like poking holes in fish,” Shepherd said. The cylinder is a decompression chamber that holds the fish in two gallons of water. It is sealed at 200 feet and brought to the surface where academy staffers slowly release the pressure over several days until the fish are completely decompressed.
The exhibit is the first alteration of the aquarium since the academy building reopened in 2008. The decoration and lighting give the area a distinct atmospheric feeling unlike Steinhart’s other displays. Along with the hard science, visitors can recreate bioluminescence by waving their hands over a light display and a video game in which the player swims through the water collecting fish adds an element of fun.
But one question remains. How can the divers remain calm knowing that they are several hundred feet below the surface in such an alien environment?
Shepherd has logged more than 270 hours in the deep sea. A good dive team and experienced dive safety officer help build confidence, he says but it was not always that way.
“When I first started I had a lot of anxiety as you look over the ledge and start to make your descent. And I definitely felt that in the first deep dives but with proficiency it’s like anything else you put in the hours and you are comfortable. “
Now that’s a story.