by Noella Noelophile®
“Oh, my goodness, everybody, it’s Santa!” exclaimed an Aquarium of the Pacific staffer.
And indeed, the jolly old elf had swum into view.
Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific was previewing its 2018 “Aquarium Holidays”, on Thursday morning. Schoolchildren were sitting on the floor of the Great Hall.
Aquarium staffers had come in with “mascots”: a hermit crab, seahorse and hammerhead shark. Some young visitors enjoyed photo opps with them–while others didn’t seem so sure.
And now, just before 10 am, the staffer, who’d introduced herself as “Sarah Seastar”, was giving a preview of the events that would take place for “Aquarium Holidays”, from this Saturday, December 1 through Sunday, December 23rd at the Aquarium of the Pacific.
With her were Aquarium costumed characters, including “Gigi” the giant Pacific octopus. In just a moment, the Great Hall’s tall tree would come alive with lights.
“Santa”, of course, was “Santa Diver”, who will be on hand daily in the “Blue Cavern” tank. He’ll have “fishmas” gifts for the animals during “Aquarium Holidays”, which run from this Saturday, December 1, through Sunday, December 23rd.
“I’m going to tell you guys a secret,” Sarah said to the excited schoolchildren. “We’re going to have a Penguin Parade every day!”
In addition, she added, since the Christmas season was about giving, the Aquarium was running a toy drive. Guests who donated a new, unwrapped toy with a value of $15 or more would receive a coupon valid for an admission discount to the Aquarium: $10 for an adult, and $3 for a child.
“Now, that I’m done talking, are you ready for the big moment?” Sarah asked her young audience. “Are you ready to light the tree? Seriously, are you feeling good about this?”
Enthusiastic “yeses” were her answer.
“Are we ready for the countdown? Here we go, everybody,” Sarah said, leading the young guests in a countdown from ten.
“5-4-3-2-1, HIT IT!”
The tree sprang to life. “Snow ” cascaded down, as it will in the Great Hall every day of “Aquarium Holidays”. Visitors laughed, took selfies and lined up for photos with the Aquarium’s costumed characters.
And we met a penguin.
A personable penguin
“Dee” is a five-month-old baby Magellanic penguin, hatched in May. She’ll be one of the participants in the Aquarium’s daily “Penguin Parade” during “Aquarium Holidays”.
“She’s one of our most personable penguins,” said Assistant Curator of Mammals and Birds Michele Sousa. “She does like to hang out with humans quite a bit, so that’s why we brought her out today.”
Dee did seem to love the camera. She even vocalized for the visiting press! Michele said the sound she made was called a “bray”.
(Want to see Dee and her cohorts on parade? The “Penguin Parade” happens at 10:00 every morning, during “Aquarium Holidays”!)
A “Holiday Treats” preview
A yearly don’t-miss, at the Aquarium of the Pacific, is “Holiday Treats for the Animals”. This year’s event happens Saturday and Sunday, December 8th and 9th. 
We were fortunate enough to catch the otters during a preview show.
Staffers offered them “gingerbread” shapes made of clams. 
All the recipients seemed pretty enthusiastic!
Baby’s first Christmas
We headed over to the seal and sea lion area next. We certainly weren’t going to miss the Aquarium’s new baby seal!
“Kaya”, born in April at the Aquarium, is celebrating her first “Aquarium Holidays”.
She popped her head up briefly during our visit, but was a little too quick for the camera. We did, however, manage to get pictures of the sea lions, and brief glimpses of her parents, harbor seals Troy and Shelby.
The Aquarium of the Pacific has both harbor seals and sea lions. A mammologist explained that the animals are trained in order to allow Aquarium staff to care for them.
“We train them to do things like present their big old flippers to us so we can look at them, and open their mouths so we can inspect their teeth and gums,” she said. “So these guys are trained mostly to participate in their health care.”
Another reason, she added, was for physical exercise. The audience “oohed” and “aahed” as two of the sea lions did a “porpoise” behavior: breaching in unison.
A “tasty” distinction
Now: seal or sea lion? How do we tell the difference?
One way is to think of ice cream.
Sarah, who works in the Aquarium’s Education department, said the California sea lions’ body coloration is solid brown–the color of chocolate ice cream.
Seals, on the other hand? (Or flipper?)
Think of cookies-and-cream or chocolate chip. Their body coloration is spotted!
We’d had a wonderful morning getting a preview of “Aquarium Holidays.” And didn’t want to forget to mention: Hanukkah activities are scheduled for the first two weekends, with Dreidel activity and storytelling December 1st, 2nd, 8th and 9th.
And, elsewhere in the Aquarium…
And, of course, we wanted to check out a few of the Aquarium’s regular denizens.
The endangered Southern California Steelhead trout, in their outdoor tank, were eye-catching. A plaque by their habitat detailed the steps NOAA Fisheries has road-mapped to prevent their becoming extinct.
“A unicorn fish,” we chuckled, in the South Pacific area–before learning that it actually is called a unicorn tang!
The tiny frog looked so perfect that it could have been made out of shiny ceramics.
And this sea star grouping evoked a sort of free-form Christmas tree.
From a distance, the sea jellies looked like constellations of stars.
The ones we found most breathtaking? The warty comb jellies–also called a sea walnut, according to the plaque outside their tank.
That name, and any pictures, can’t do them justice. They look as if they’re lit with LEDs–glowing green, blue and red through their translucent bodies.
So–you may just have to go and investigate those on your own. And definitely, say hi to “Dee” the penguin, and “Kaya”, the baby seal as you celebrate “Aquarium Holidays”.
“Aquarium Holidays” start at Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific, 100 Aquarium Way, on Saturday, December 1 at 9:00 am and run through Sunday, December 23rd. Here’s a link for their schedule of activities. The Aquarium is open every day of the year, except for Christmas Day.