Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center

05/26/2026

Saturday, June 6, 10:00 AM–4:00 PM. enjoy free admission to the Sea Center on Stearns Wharf thanks to UCSB's Moeller Lab! We’re celebrating World Oceans Day - Free Admission at the Sea Center, offering fun opportunities to meet animals from the Santa Barbara Channel and learn about local ecosystems. Come meet an array of community partners dedicated to ocean conservation and celebration, including NOAA Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Surfrider Santa Barbara, Cultured Abalone, Sunflower Star Laboratory, CSULB Shark Lab, Commercial Fishermen of Santa Barbara, CICRU - Channel Islands Cetacean Research Unit, and Celebration Cruises - Santa Barbara. More details at https://www.sbnature.org/visit/calendar/9131/world-oceans-day-free-admission-at-the-sea-center
🐳🐳🐳

05/15/2026

We love how iNaturalist.org helps us record and share the mind-blowing wildlife observations made every day from the Wet Deck at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center on Stearns Wharf! 🐌 🔬 Come visit us to meet some of these wild neighbors in person. We'll gladly share tips on contributing to community science by using iNaturalist, too.
🌟 🌟 Starring Naturalist and Volunteer Manager Dylan Otte and a special guest character we like to call Travis in a Hat 🌟🌟
📸 Photos/featured observations by Kennedy Rivera, Joaquin Bailey-Musacchio, Dylan Otte, and Saul Lopez-Villalta

05/07/2026

So happy to see this malnourished sea lion pup is now healthy and released. The pup showed up on the wharf platform under the Sea Center several months ago. Our staff helped Channel Islands Marine & Wildlife Institute (CIMWI) with access and safely hoisting the pup up from the platform. Great to see her doing well and back in the wild. Thank you CIMWI!

05/02/2026

It's time for a PSA about PSP—paralytic shellfish poisoning! There's an annual quarantine on public harvesting of mussels from May 1 through October 31 on the California coast, to guard against illness and death from toxins that accumulate in mussels. This page has a great FAQ to educate yourself on what's safe to eat, when, and why: https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CEH/DRSEM/Pages/EMB/Shellfish/Annual-Mussel-Quarantine.aspx

04/30/2026

In 1983, El Niño scoured the seabed off the Central Coast, displacing rocks that previously anchored Giant Kelp. Human-made barriers in the watershed have prevented new rocks from reaching the coast, depriving our seabed of materials kelp needs to grow. Join us for Science Pub at Dargan's Irish Pub & Restaurant to learn from Chris Goldblatt, founder of the Fish Reef Project, about the success of the 16 one-ton Sea Cave® reef units his team has deployed off Goleta! On Monday, May 11, 6:30–8:00 PM, Goldblatt will explain how these artificial reefs were designed to be ideal for kelp, fish, and marine invertebrates, and how they are helping rebuild our historic kelp forests in a time of crisis. Learn about research findings connected to the restoration, and the Fish Reef Project’s plans to expand. No tickets or reservations needed, but note that Science Pub is a popular program. Early birds get good seats. More details at https://www.sbnature.org/visit/calendar/9134/science-pub-restoring-coastal-kelp-forests Photos by Chris Goldblatt, Chris Sainvil, Patrick Wayand and Malakai Isaacs

04/24/2026

“Our exhibit interpreter volunteers are the heart and soul of the Sea Center. Each day, they help create meaningful connections between our guests and the incredible marine life of the Santa Barbara Channel. Whether they’re discovering critters on the Wet Deck or sharing the vital role sharks play in our ecosystem, our interpreters make every visit engaging and memorable for guests of all ages. Through these moments, they’re helping inspire the next generation of ocean stewards. We are deeply grateful for our volunteer interpreters—the impact we make wouldn’t be possible without them.” Sea Center Volunteer Manager Dylan Otte speaking from the heart here for . Find out how to join this amazing group of volunteers at sbnature.org/volunteer

04/22/2026

“Nearly once a month, community members join the Sea Center for a beach cleanup at East Beach near the Mission Creek outlet—an important spot where trash and debris carried downstream are just moments from entering the ocean. Last year, 246 volunteers removed over 770 pounds of waste that would have otherwise ended up in our marine environment. A huge thank you to all of the ocean stewards who continue to show up and be part of the solution to marine pollution. Your impact truly makes a difference!” Sea Center Volunteer Manager Dylan Otte speaking from the heart here for . Find out how to join this amazing group of volunteers at sbnature.org/volunteer

04/18/2026

“This unusual clam thinks it’s a snail, crawling under rocks and into crevices with its two-part shell wide open,” says Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Curator Emeritus of Malacology Paul Valentich-Scott. 🐌 We have a chance to learn more about how the Mysterious Moon Clam developed this bizarre lifestyle because the species is in the running for International Mollusk of the Year! 🏆 Please vote to help us earn the prize of free gene sequencing. Follow this link https://universityofalabama.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bPWhKQXZjWJmwgm to vote for the Mysterious Moon Clam (_Ephippodonta lunata_) right away—you’ll make an international group of researchers including our own curator really happy!—and learn more at sbnature.org/blog 🦪

02/13/2026

We're excited to welcome new Sea Center Programs Manager Ally Aplin! 🐳 Aplin brings so much marine knowledge to the work of creating amazing educational programs at the aquarium on Stearns Wharf. Originally from Dana Point, CA, she has also lived in Australia, French Polynesia, the Bahamas, North Carolina, and of course here in Santa Barbara. 🪸 (Swipe to see her at work in several of those coastal environments.) 🦈 She earned her B.S. in aquatic biology from UCSB and her M.E.M. in coastal marine management from Duke University. While at UCSB, she worked for the UCSB REEF, the MCR and SBC LTER, and the Culver and Gaines labs. Most recently, she worked on marine protected area geospatial science at The Nature Conservancy. 🦀 We are so happy for the teachers, students, guests, and volunteers who will benefit from her wealth of experience in marine science and education. 📷 Photos courtesy Ally Aplin

01/28/2026

Exciting opportunity to help marine researchers name a new species of mollusk—and learn some new True Facts along the way!

Sign up for the Ocean Species Alliance newsletter: https://sosa.senckenberg.de/en/connect/Thanks to the Senckenberg Ocean Species Alliance team especially Ca...

01/24/2026

Thank you to everyone who took part in Underwater Parks Day at the Sea Center this year! We are fortunate to serve as a hub for this celebration of marine protected areas, bringing together partners in research and conservation for a wonderful day of fun and learning. We were delighted to host Spotting Giant Sea Bass, Heal the Ocean, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, the Caselle Lab at UCSB, the Channel Islands Naturalists Corps, and Protecting Blue Whales and Blue Skies. Special thanks to the volunteers and staff who worked this busy event with over 1,900 attendees—it was the largest turnout yet for this usually annual festival.