Marine Life Center

Get a feel for
Local Marine Life

View - Explore - Touch

See what lurks beneath the bay!

Marine Life Center
Bellingham, WA

Animals & Exhibits

Exhibits

The Observation Pool:

Located in the center of the facility, this is the largest of our exhibits, and contains some of our largest animals. Even though it is open-topped, touching is not allowed; as the name suggests, it is for looking only! Shelves descend in depth from one side of the pool to the other. The observation pool features marine life that lives in the subtidal zone (the area below where the tide goes in and out). This includes anemones in the shallower step, but also encompasses starry flounders and dungeness crabs in the deeper depths.

The Touch Pool:

As the name suggests, this popular exhibit is the only one we have where visitors can actually touch the animals. A hands-on experience, this little pool contains hermit crabs, sea stars, and other little critters of the intertidal zone (the shore area that gets exposed during low tide).

The Eelgrass Aquarium:

This exhibit represents an eelgrass meadow - a local underwater ecosystem that supports a variety of animal life with eelgrass as the fundamental element of this habitat. The tank also has a see-through bubble in the middle; visitors can crawl under the aquarium, pop up in the bubble, and look at the animals from under the water! Crabs, sea stars, and gunnels are just some of the animals that thrive in this aquatic environment.

The "Octopus Tank":

That's what we like to call the large middle aquarium parallel to the outside walkway. We periodically obtain an octopus (even a giant pacific octopus) and when we do, we keep it in here. Octopus or no octopus, this tank is never empty; take a look for yourself!

The Rocky Shore Habitat:

This aquarium houses those animals that like the rocky areas near the shore. Shrimp, sculpins, and some sea stars hide out and forage among these rocks. You will also see in this aquarium a grunt sculpin; a fish with a pig-like nose and orange fins. They might be hopping around or hiding in empty barnacle shells.

Animals

Want to get acquainted with some of the animals that live right here in Bellingham Bay? These are just some of the animals we keep here:

 

Anemone

Phylum: Cnidarian

Exhibit: all

Eats: shrimp, small crustaceans, plankton

Interesting Facts: Anemones are actually relatives of jellyfish and corals! An anemone's tentacles are full of stinging cells that sting whatever touches them. This is how the anemone captures prey, plus it makes most predators think twice about eating them.

 

Barnacle

Phylum: Crustacean

Exhibit: octopus tank, observation pool

Eats: plankton

Interesting Facts: Barnacles live upside-down in their protective shell house. To feed, they use their feet! These are long and feathery, and can be seen going in and out of the animal's shell when the barnacle is underwater. The legs catch tiny plankton and carry the food down to the barnacle's mouth.

 

Cabezon

Phylum: Chordata

Exhibit: observation pool

Eats: smaller fish, abalone, crabs

Interesting Facts: This is the Puget Sound's biggest type of sculpin, growing up to 2 feet or more! These parents don't just ditch their eggs - the males guard the eggs until they hatch! The Cabezon are tricky to spot as they blend in with the rocks they like to hide in.

 

Coho Salmon

Phylum: Chordata

Exhibit: eelgrass aquarium

Eats: copepods, krill

Interesting Facts: The salmon we have are actually juveniles. When they mature, they are released into the bay. Salmon hatch from eggs in streams and rivers. They continually move farther and farther down river. As adults they live in the ocean. When it's time to spawn they travel all the way back up river to their original birthplace.

 

Dungeness Crab

Phylum: Crustacean

Exhibit: Observation pool

Eats: any kind of meat they can find

Interesting Facts: Dungeness crabs are the largest crabs at MLC. A pinch from one of these guy's claws is nasty! How do you tell a male crab from a female? Look at the crab's tails. A crab has a "tail" like a lobster, except theirs is curled under the body. To see it, you need to turn a crab over onto its back; if the tail is shaped like a triangle, it is a male. If it is rounded, more like a half-circle, then it is a female.

 

Hermit Crab

Phylum: Crustacean

Exhibit: Touch pool, eelgrass aquarium, rocky shore habitat

Eats: any kind of meat they can find

Interesting Facts: Hermit crabs hide out in snail shells for protection. Unlike their front ends, their back ends are soft, unprotected by an exoskeleton. In order to protect that end (and the rest of them), they need an abandoned snail shell to tuck into. When they outgrow their current shell, they have to find a bigger one! In some cases, a hermit crab will allow an anemone to attach itself to its shell! This is in the hermit crab's favor: the anemone's stings will help deter the crustacean's predators. Even though they're called hermit crabs, they aren't true crabs; in fact, they're more closely related to lobsters.

 

Sea Cucumber

Phylum: Echinoderm

Exhibit: all

Eats: detritus

Interesting Facts: To feed, a sea cucumber sticks out feathery tentacles around its mouth. Any bits of food suspended in the water sticks to these tentacles, and the animal can suck them off at leisure. As a defense mechanism, sea cucumbers can vomit their own guts out! This distracts the predator, while the sea cucumber makes a break for it. It regenerates its lost guts later.

 

Sea Star (blood, ochre/purple, pink)

Phylum: Echinoderm

Exhibit: all

Eats: clams, scallops

Interesting Facts: Don't let their slow movement fool you. Sea stars are deadly efficient predators. Once they are upon their prey, their strong arms pry open the victim's shell. Then, they push their stomachs out through their mouths, digest their meal, and suck their stomach back in! A sea stars can regenerate or regrow an arm if they lose one. They can do this any time, provided that the center of their bodies is intact. For movement, a sea star moves with its tube feet found on the underside. These tube feet look like little tentacles with suction cups on their tips.

 

Sea Urchin

Phylum: Echinoderm

Exhibit: Touch pool, observation pool

Eats: kelp

Interesting Facts: Sea urchins have teeth! These are sharp plates that are self-sharpening and continually grow in length. In addition to their spines, sea urchins have another defense tactic: they like to cover themselves with small rocks, shells, and pieces of seaweed! This makes them blend in with their surroundings, helping them hide.

 

Spot Prawn

Phylum: Crustacean

Exhibit: Rocky shore habitat, octopus aquarium

Eats: small shrimp and other crustaceans

Interesting Facts: This guy is a scavenger - an animal that basically eats whatever it can find. To pick-up bits of food, he has a pair of long, skinny, flexible arms that can reach down between the gravel he walks on!

 

 

Starry Flounder

Phylum: Chordata

Exhibit: Observation pool

Eats: shrimp, worms, crabs

Interesting Facts: When they hatch, flounders look like most other fish - flattened vertically. However, as they grow the cells on one side of the fish's head grow faster than those on the other. This causes one eye to be pushed to the other side and the mouth to twist sideways. After this transformation the flounder to starts swimming on its side. From then on, it spends its life living on the bottomr! All "flat fish" share this life cycle.

 

A heartfelt thank you to Tim Lobb, MLC volunteer, for intiating this website project.