Birch Aquarium | San Diego Review

Located at 2300 Expedition Way, La Jolla, CA 92037
The Birch Aquarium has a scenic view of the Scripps Pier and the Institution of Oceanography below. Further south is the coast of La Jolla.
In 1915, the first standalone aquarium was built on the Institution's campus.
In this photo it's to the right of the seawater tower.
It had 19 tanks and featured aquatic life from the waters around San Diego.
In 1951, the Scripps Aquarium-Museum opened its doors.
It was arranged with 18 viewing bays surrounding a museum in the center. After the first month, patrons from all 48 states had signed the guest book.
The Stephen Birch Aquarium-Museum opened to the public in 1992 and continues the mission
to help the community understand the importance of protecting Earth's oceans and marine life.
Once stepping inside, visitors are free to move about the aquarium much like these fish in the entry hall.
It is said that aquariums relax the mind.
Just watching the fish circle around gives our thoughts a chance to predict where they will swim to next.
Some float by alone, seemingly deep in thought.
While others move in schools, one following another.
Why are some fish brightly colored and others are not?
What is the purpose of the patterns on their bodies? And why do they appear so different from each other?
The color and patterns of fish are used to camouflage, communicate with friends or foes, or defend against predators.
Fish that live around coral reefs have adapted their coloration to conceal them against the background. If they don't find a place to hide their colors can distract any predators.
Some like the Blue Tang or Palette Surgeonfish have a deep blue that blends with the ocean. This is the fish type of Dory from Finding Nemo.
Others like the Yellow Tang on the left seem to attract too much attention to blend in.
A closer look where their body meets the tail shows a short white stripe. This is a tang.
Tangs, or surgeonfish like this striped one, can flick open this part of their spine that's as sharp as a scalpel.
This Naso Tang has spiny fins on the top and bottom along with two sharp tail spines marked in orange.
Predators learn to approach tangs or surgeonfish with caution.
Despite the soothing nature of the coral reef, its fish can defend themselves if need be.
Corals reefs are one environment for marine life. What other animals are there and where do they live?
Hidden among the vegetation at the bottom is a Leafy Seadragon. It maneuvers using tiny translucent fins on its neck
and propels itself with a fin on its back, just above the tail. You can see the disturbance of water which looks like a vague blur.
When this video was taken in early 2023, one of the male seadragons was carrying babies under its tail. It's hard to make out from the glass distortion and lighting, but the eggs were due to hatch by week number eight.
It's extremely rare for seadragons to breed within an aquarium setting.
These shrimpfish are related to seadragons with a long snout and a fused jaw. They swim with their heads pointing downward.
Seahorses have a shape much more similar to seadragons.
They use their tail to hold onto objects like rocks or kelp to avoid getting pushed around by the ocean currents.
Seahorses don't have any teeth or stomach. They almost constantly suck water through their snout to feed on krill, fish larvae, or other small food. In general, they don't move around much.
In fact, one called the Dwarf Seahorse is considered the slowest fish in the world according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
Much smaller than these, it's just over half an inch in length and moves only five feet per hour.
When these seahorses move, they can float among the kelp or swim upwards to transfer to another branch then relax in the current.
Just like the seadragons, seahorses have fins on their neck to change direction and a dorsal fin for propulsion.
Most of us humans eat three meals a day. Seahorses need to eat up to fifty times a day and remain on a perpetual lookout for food.
Walking around a corner in the Hall of Fishes, we come across Birch Aquarium's giant kelp forest.
A Leopard Shark circles around the kelp near the bottom of the tank which holds 70,000 gallons of water and stands two stories tall.
At the top we see a Giant Sea Bass which typically grow to seven feet in length
and weigh 500 to 600 pounds. It stayed near the surface most of the time, letting the generated current rock it back and forth.
Another odd creature can be seen below the Leopard Shark.
It's a California Moray Eel resting on the sea floor.
At times it has an almost smiling grin on its face while it peeks around the side of a rock.
Most likely it has opened its mouth to draw in water over its gills to extract oxygen for breathing.
They eat small fish, crustaceans, and octopus and have a unique way of eating.
Moray eels have a second set of jaws behind the first set. Just after the outer jaws open wide and grasp its prey, the second set moves forward to