Long Beach houses the Aquarium of the Pacific, a decent-size aquarium suitable for families with young school-aged children. In addition to a variety of fish, there are other marine animals, such as seals, water turtles, frogs, sea otters and crustacean.

The community outreach of the Aquarium of the Pacific is evident by its ocean conservation efforts and marine life advocacy outside of the Aquarium walls. It also strives to continue educating the Aquarium visitors on the human carbon footprint and the trickling down effects of pollution in the waters, over-harvesting of fish/crustacean for food consumption, global climate change, etc.

The Aquarium of the Pacific is a great place to introduce little children to marine life as well as to start a conversation with them about how to respect nature by way of handling our consumption better. The Homeschool Days Program, wherein the Aquarium offers a deeply discounted admission fee of $6 per person for homeschool networks, students, parents, and teachers outside of the classroom setting, help foster that goal. The Aquarium educators help by offering ocean-related activities and kid-friendly lessons, as well as learning stations, to engage all students to explore marine life.

Here are some photos from our recent Homeschool Day visit to the Aquarium of the Pacific.

There are beautiful sea anemones and jellyfish housed in aquarium tanks that seem to emit rainbow-like colors in the darkened exhibit hall.

Seahorses, sea stars and water slugs can also be viewed here.

There is a shark lagoon and a manta ray petting area for those who are curious about these more fearful variety.

Separate living habitats featuring penguins and the unexpected rainbow lorikeet are also offered here.

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Aquarium of the Pacific
100 Aquarium Way
Long Beach, CA 90802
562-590-3100
aquariumofpacific.org

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