Education & Camps

A lifetime of Learning

Education is a top priority of Heal the Bay. Whether you visit our public, marine education center on a school field trip, attend a free evening lecture on a marine science related topic, send your budding young scientist to our Micro Biologist classes or bring a group to one of our school year education programs, you will leave the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium with a new sense of wonder and appreciation for the amazing marine life of the Santa Monica Bay.

Getting Started

The Aquarium is a premier field trip destination for school groups and an educational resource for the entire Los Angeles region. Located at the historic Santa Monica Pier, with the Pacific Ocean just outside its doors, we exhibit more than 100 species of plant and animal life native to the Santa Monica Bay.

The moray eels that are the centerpiece of the Rocky Reef exhibit greet each student; touch tanks teeming with animals of the tide pools – sea stars and sea urchins, anemones and hermit crabs, snails and sea cucumbers, to name a few - invite hands-in-the-water exploration; the majestic sea jelly exhibit beckons from an interactive pollution exhibit.

Our marine science center uses every square inch to support Heal the Bay’s mission and engage, inform and inspire conservation and stewardship. Students learn how they can help keep Southern California’s coastal waters and watersheds, including Santa Monica Bay, safe, healthy and clean.

2010-2011 Annual Beach Report Card

Heal the Bay’s 21st Annual Beach Report Card® provides water quality information to the millions of people who swim, surf or dive in California, Oregon and Washington coastal waters. This is the first annual report to cover the entire West Coast, …
2010-2011 Annual Beach Report Card - Cover page

Fixing Eco-Education

Has education failed to reach its potentail in fighting climate change and environmental degradation? That's the topic of a June 2nd discussion at UCLA. The discussion, led by Charles Saylan and Daniel T. Blumsein, will cover their book, The Failure …

Schooling the Aquarium

Recently, to wrap up Earth Month, a class from the Laurel Hall School in North Hollywood took a visit to Santa Monica Beach to participate in a cleanup and learn how trash ends up in the Bay. Afterwards, the group toured our Santa Monica Pier Aquariu…

Deep in the Heart of Texas

I just spent a looong weekend in Texas, hanging out at Texas A&M Galveston overlooking the Bay and the lime green piles of sulfur lining the shores of the port. I flew out to watch the finals of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl and to root for th…

An Unusual Jackpot

Guest blogger Vicki Wawerchak, the director of the Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, discusses hitting an unusual jackpot.

Overfishing 101 - A Beginner's Guide

Understanding U.S. Fisheries Management Part 1 of a 2 part series from National Geographic's News Watch.  Photo by Captain Tom Migdalski  
Photo by Captain Tom Migdalski

Behind the Scenes: Recycling with Chivas USA

This guest blog post was written by Eveline Bravo, Heal the Bay's Beach Programs Manager. 
Chivas USA Fighter, Melissa Aguayo, Heal the Bay
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