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Santa Monica, California, July 28, 2006 -- This weekend my family explored the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, which is run by Heal the Bay at the Santa Monica Pier. Filled with oversized tanks, tiny tanks, an open-topped shark tank and even touch tanks, the aquarium gave us an up-close, hands-on lesson in undersea life in Santa Monica Bay. There were coloring pages and crafts set out for us to explore, face painting and a Kids Corner with puppets, a puppet theater and lots and lots of books about the creatures around us. Many informative, friendly people with nametags were stationed by the exhibits and were eager to tell us all sorts of interesting facts about the ocean and the inhabitants of the aquarium.
Shark feeding times are posted on the chalkboard out front. There was also a conservation area where my oldest child, Beloved Offspring #1, read about how long things take to break down and what our human pollution does to the waters of our planet. Educational movies were showing in the Santa Monica Bay Room, and the co-ed family friendly restrooms were equipped with water-saving dual flush toilets.
One chilling fact we learned was that the beach water at Santa Monica almost always earns an "F" rating, while other beaches along the Los Angeles coastline earn much better scores. We wished we had heard this BEFORE letting our Beloved Offspring frolic in the waves for a few hours earlier in the day.
The aquarium offers a fun and informative destination for school field trips and groups, as well as birthday party packages. There is also an Aquadoption Program where you can adopt a sea creature and get all sorts of great perks. Admission is a suggested donation of $5 for anyone over age 12, and 42 for kids. Admission is free with the Go L.A.! card. The aquarium's hours vary by season so call 310-393-6149 or check the website, www.healthebay.org/smpa.
