Aquarium in the News

Birch Aquarium at Scripps is continuously in the news, lending its experts to speak about issues in ocean science and promoting its educational programs. 

Grunion on the Run
San Diego 6, April 28, 2010
Features an interview with Birch Aquarium at Scripps Educational Director Kristin Evans.
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Gray Whale Spotted in Bay

Examiner San Diego, April 19, 2010

A gray whale was spotted in San Diego Bay early this morning and San Diegan's are coming out to see him. The Harbor Police are going to be watching over him from afar. Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, Executive Director Nigella Hillgarth, said that people should respect this beautiful whale and keep their distance. The depth of the bay will pose no problem and during migration gray whales do not eat, so there is no worry the whale will go hungry.
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Grunion Run
CW 6 San Diego (Video), April 16, 2010

Mentions Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, grunion run excursions starting tonight and ending in May.
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Play Miniature Golf and Learn about the Ocean

San Diego Union-Tribune, April 1, 2010

Thirty-six holes of family fun are now offered at Pelly's Mini Golf at the Del Mar Golf Center. It includes two 18-hole courses, Pelly's Ocean Adventure and Pelly's Surfin' Safari, featuring lifelike marine animals and holes themed after notable surf spots. With educational and theme-development help from Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, and the Surfrider Foundation, Pelly's Mini Golf will not only entertain, but also educate participants about one of our most precious resources, the ocean.
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Lecture Series Begins at Birch

La Jolla Light, March 3, 2010

The Jeffrey B. Graham Perspectives on Ocean Science Lecture Series kicks off March 8 at Birch Aquarium at Scripps, featuring presentations on research conducted by scientists from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. All presentations run from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and are open to the public. At the opening event, three students will talk about their discoveries and share their visions for the futures of their disciplines in a talk titled "The Future Stewards of Our Planet."

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EARTH 8: Mating Habits of Animals

CBS 8 San Diego (Video), February 10, 2010

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and love is in the air - and not just for people. (Features interview with Birch Aquarium at Scripps Executive Director Nigella Hillgarth. To view segment, click on video screen in top right corner.)

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Jumbo Squid Invade San Diego Waters
MSNBC, February 6, 2010

Every night for the past several weeks, boats have been loading up and heading out to catch the jumbo Humboldt squid off the San Diego coast. The trip we rode along for reeled in more than 300 in less than two hours. So, how many of them are really out there? "Nobody knows for sure, but it's probably at least hundreds of thousands of them," said Nigella Hillgarth, executive director at Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego. She says it's been a recent topic of interest for scientists, especially since a decade ago, these squid were almost non-existent off California's coast.
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Kids Run Through Belly of Beast at Whale Fest
San Diego Union-Tribune, January 24, 2010

The Big Bay Whale Fest was held on the Embarcadero in downtown San Diego yesterday. The prime time for catching glimpses of the gray whale migration is from the end of December or beginning of January through the first week of April, said Caitlin Scully, a Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, UC San Diego, naturalist who provides interpretation at Harbor Excursion’s whale-watching cruises.
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Whale Tale: California Gray Migration Has Begun
North County Times, January 3, 2010

Each year, the California gray whales (also known as Pacific gray whales) -- averaging 45 feet in length and 45 tons in weight -- travel from the Bering Sea south to Baja California, where they breed and give birth in the cool, krill-packed lagoons near the Sea of Cortez before heading north again from mid-February through mid-April. Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego kicked off its whale watching program the day after Christmas. Twice daily through April 4, a Scripps naturalist will join the crew of a San Diego Harbor Excursion whale-watching boat for an educational, 3 1/2-hour cruise off the San Diego coast to look for whales.
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