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.

Take L.A. by Storm This Summer

Municipal stormwater permits regulate all urban runoff discharge from separate storm sewer systems, so-called MS4s. Because stormwater is the No. 1 source of coastal pollution in California, these permits are a big deal for ensuring public health …
Join the Take L.A. by Storm campaign to fight for clean water

Recycling Champs Take the Hula Pie

Filling up blue bins definitely pays off, as more than 100 Glassell Park Elementary fifth graders recently discovered, having recycled their way to the beach and a seaside lunch at Duke’s Malibu.
education program Glassell Park Duke's Malibu Hula Pie

Mariposa School Holds Creative Cleanup

At a time when most schools are focused on fundraising to support their own libraries and arts programs, one local school decided to share some of the money their families raised at a beach cleanup event to help further Heal the Bay’s mission. …
Heal the Bay Mariposa Elementary beach cleanup donation Agoura Hills education

Heal the Bay Earns Top Tourism Award

June 4, 2012 The California Travel Association (CTA) will bestow its annual Tourism Stewardship of the Year award this week to Heal the Bay, recognizing us for doing the most to “protect, preserve, restore, improve, expand, or otherwise enhance Cal…

Three Ways to Salute World Oceans Day

On World Oceans Day, traditionally held each year on June 8, people around the globe gather to celebrate and honor the ocean and the life it contains. The theme for 2012 is “Youth: the Next Wave for Change” and the event boasts a long list of act…
Kids World Ocean Day June 9 Santa Monica Pier Aquarium

Know Before You Swim in the O.C.

Ocean lovers in the Orange County now have a newly-enhanced resource for assessing water quality conditions before going for a swim.  The Orange County Health Agency’s Ocean Water Protection Program just upgraded its public web tool, making it…
Photo: IceNineJon on Flickr Orange County ocean water beach information weather

Paddle Out for Ocean Education

What better way to kick off a summer spent at the shore than with some family-friendly, crowd-pleasing ocean sport competition? In the water on June 9, the Santa Monica Pier Paddleboard Race & Ocean Festival will feature SUP, paddleboard, ocean s…
June 9 ocean sport paddleboard surf swim Santa Monica pier

Greetings from “Camp by the Water”

Today’s blog post is by Aquarium Education Specialist Amanda Jones  Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh! Greetings from Camp, by the Water Having so much fun, by the pier Discovering creatures from deep and seashore near Open Ocean and Rocky Shore…
Santa Monica Pier Aquarium, Summer Science Adventure Camp, Kids
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