You’re sure to get an enthusiastic welcome at the Seaside Aquarium. A gregarious family of harbor seals greets you at the front entrance, diving and gliding across their tank, then popping up to gaze at you sweetly with big Labrador-like eyes.
They’re ideal ambassadors for the aquarium, a mainstay of Seaside’s beachfront Promenade since 1937. Nearly a century later, the Seaside Aquarium continues to enchant visitors with an intimate look at the marine animals that live nearby. “The seals are everybody’s favorite,” agrees assistant manager Tiffany Boothe. “We’re here to share experiences and educate as much as we can, and we want people to have fun.”
The seals seem to understand the mission. Although they have full-time access to a much larger pool and resting area behind the scenes, they prefer to be out front, practically nose to whiskered nose with visitors. They happily show off their agile swimming skills and charm you for a fishy treat, which you can purchase with your admission. Read on to learn what else you can see and experience at the historic Seaside Aquarium. To see even more ways to enjoy Seaside, check out this helpful guide.
Get an Up-Close Look at Oregon Marine Life
An equally engaging experience awaits beyond the seal pool. Compact in size, the aquarium makes it easy to interact with knowledgeable staff and hands-on activities, which Boothe hopes piques your curiosity to learn more. “It’s why our admission is good for the whole day,” she explains. “We love it when people visit us, spend the day at the beach and then come back to ask, ‘I found this or I saw this, what is this?’”
Thirty-five glass tanks line the aquarium walls, home to wolf eels and rockfish, crustaceans, cod, and dozens of other Oregon species. A giant Pacific octopus in a larger central tank enthralls visitors with its waving, contorting arms. Anemones, urchins and sea stars re-create tiny tide pool worlds in touch tanks. Volunteers often have even smaller animals available for viewing under a microscope, like tiny snails emerging from their eggs. The aquarium’s free Beach Discovery Program expands its activities outside on summer Sundays, with touch tanks and microscopes under a beachfront tent.
What you won’t find are tropical fish or other non-native species. The aquarium specializes in Oregon’s marine environment, explains Boothe, and many of the animals on exhibit are born right here. In a private back room full of tanks, Boothe points out baby skates (a kind of ray) hatched from casings that washed up on the beach. Even those beloved seals were born on-site. The Seaside Aquarium was one of the first aquariums to successfully breed harbor seals in captivity back in the 1980s; the seal family delighting visitors today is their third- and fourth-generation offspring.
Caring for Wild Creatures Too
While the aquarium-reared seals wouldn’t be able to survive in open waters, Boothe and her team are active in protecting their wild cousins along the Coast. The Seaside Aquarium plays a key role in the Southern Washington/Northern Oregon Marine Mammal Stranding Network, helping to rescue and transport injured wildlife. When sea turtles following warm-water currents get hypothermic in Oregon’s cooler waters, for example, the Seaside Aquarium helps rescue and transfer them to the Oregon Coast or Seattle aquariums for rehab.
Much of the work is preventive, like teaching people to stay at least 100 yards away from a marine mammal that might appear to be stranded. Seals and sea lions use the beach to rest, explains Boothe, and mothers leave their pups alone on the sand while they hunt. If you encounter one, never approach or attempt to move it, and keep dogs on-leash. Call the aquarium or the West Coast Region Stranding Hotline if you have questions or concerns.
History Comes to Life in a Century-Old Building
Funded solely by admissions, the Seaside Aquarium is the oldest privately owned aquarium west of the Mississippi. The building itself is even older. In 1924 it was home to the Seaside Baths Natatorium, one of two saltwater swimming pools in town, until the Depression forced its closure in the early 1930s. After short stints as a wrestling ring and a salmon farm, the next enterprising owners realized that a large pool pulling water from the Pacific would make a fine aquarium.
Today, the tanks are still supplied by the same maze of pipes, pumps and filters that once drew in ocean water at high tide to fill the pool. The upper pool deck even housed apartments until the ’60s, complete with ocean views and bathtubs plumbed for a saltwater soak. Though people often ask, there are no plans to renovate them, Boothe reports. The Seaside Aquarium’s mission is sharing the wonders of Oregon’s marine environment with the world.
Ready to learn more about amazing creatures that make the ocean home? Head for the aquarium on the Promenade in downtown Seaside.
