Bay Ecotarium

Program #1: exhibitsbay.org, which operates the aquarium of the Bay, is accredited by the association of zoos and aquariums. It is the only smithsonian affiliated aquarium in the state of California. It provides approximately 500,000 visitors each year with experiences that educate and inspire conservation of the san francisco Bay and its watershed. It is open to the public 364 days a year. The aquarium displays about 24,000 local marine and terrestrial animals in themed galleries that focus on the san francisco Bay and regional habitats. The aquarium addresses relevant issues in marine conservation and climate change with exhibitry in seven galleries. The galleries focus on discovering the Bay, habitats of local fish, invertebrates, and algae, and includes information on national marine sanctuaries. The jellies go with the flow gallery displays six species of jellyfish along with information on their biology, habitats, and conservation. The nearshore tunnel gallery is a 300-foot walk-through tunnel featuring fish and invertebrates found in the shallower waters of the san francisco Bay area. The octopus and friends gallery exhibits octopus, crabs, rockfish, turban snails, and other interesting invertebrates. The sharks of alcatraz is a 300-foot acrylic tunnel display focused on local sharks, skates, rays, and sturgeon. The Bay lab gallery features fish, reptiles, amphibians, and small mammals. In this gallery, all of the animal displays and interactives are designed to educate visitors about climate change and the devastating effect it has on animal populations. The final display that visitors encounter are the river otters. Watershed ambassadors gallery, live river otters, educational electronic graphics, and staff presentations complete the guest experience.

Program #3: field conservationthe san francisco Bay has been altered drastically from the pristine estuary that existed in the 1800s. Hundreds of miles of earthen dikes built around the Bay's salt marshes served their connection to its tidewaters. The diked marshes were drained and converted to agricultural lands. Their size was reduced by one third. As a result of this wetland destruction, the Bay's biological productivity plummeted. One of the main goals of bay.orBayorgrg is to expand and accelerate the effort to protect and restore many of the wetlands that were drained. Further, bay.orBayorgrg employs scientific and policy expertise to promote reforms in the way California manages its water supplies and protects the ecological values of the san francisco bay-delta estuary and its watershed. In addition, to the san francisco Bay and its watershed, bay.orBayorgrg is engaged in restoring the related coastal and near-shore ocean areas.

Program #2: educationbay.org provides a variety of education programs from school groups, youth groups, families, scout troops, and visitors of all ages. Education programs are on the aquarium of the Bay premises, at schools, at the sea lion center located at pier 39, and at the ecocenter at heron's head park. Through the many k-12 programs offered at these different locations, bay.orBayorgrg offers free education programs for more than 20,000 students, teachers, and chaperones annually. These education programs are offered at schools within the nine Bay area counties (san francisco, san mateo, santa clara, alameda, contra costa, marin, sonoma, napa, and solano). These classes and tours are inquiry-based, hands-on, and immersive learning experiences that are age-appropriate and linked with next generation science standards (ngss) for kindergarten through 12th grade. The number of participants taking part in the bay.orBayorgrg free education programs has increased each year since 2001. Additionally, bay.orBayorgrg offers teacher workshops and events encouraging teachers to engage their students further about the san francisco Bay before and after their education program. Bay.org's education department also offers evening and weekend sleepover programs for youth and scout groups. For scout groups, the sleepover activities help fulfill badge requirements. The sea lion center, located directly above pier 39's k-dock and home of the world-famous sea lions, offers free interpretive and k-12 classroom programs and exhibits. These programs and exhibits focus on the California sea lions, their history at pier 39, as well as what everyone can do to help these charismatic mammals survive in their threatened habitat. As part of the bay.orBayorgrg free education programs described above at the sea lion center, students and teachers can participate in a variety of age-appropriate hour-long classroom programs. Additionally, the center is open to the public visit for free from 10 am - 5 pm during the summer season, and 10 am - 4 pm at all other times of the year. Visitors at the sea lion center can view exhibits, touch sea lion pelts and learn from a naturalist who provides presentations hourly during summer months. Naturalist are also stationed at k-dock with an interpretive cart of artifacts and binoculars to answer guest questions. Bay.orBayorgrg partnered with a Bay model visitor center, an education center administered by the u.s. army corps of engineers, to form the Bay model alliance. Through this alliance, bay.orBayorgrg offers enhanced education programs about the san francisco Bay and the sacramento-san joaquin river delta system. The ecocenter of heron's head park became a new division of bay.orBayorgrg in march 2014. The ecocenter is an incredible space for environmental education, public outreach, and connecting people with the beauty of san francisco's wild landscapes. It represents san francisco's best example of sustainable solutions to adverse human impacts on the environment. It is a model for green building, sustainable resource center, environmental justice, and experiential learning. The ecocenter is free to visit and open to the general public 4 days per week, wednesday through saturday. Programming includes college internships in collaboration with city college of san francisco, as well as weekly science saturday programs in collaboration with the san francisco department of recreation and parks. It also provides free tours and educational programs in school, youth and adult groups.