{"id":48614,"date":"2025-11-11T21:05:21","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T21:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/48614\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T21:05:21","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T21:05:21","slug":"aquarium-of-the-pacific-opening-sea-turtle-rehab-area-in-2026-joins-zebra-shark-conservation-effort-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/48614\/","title":{"rendered":"Aquarium of the Pacific opening sea turtle rehab area in 2026; joins zebra shark conservation effort \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Aquarium of the Pacific had a busy Monday.<\/p>\n

Alongside announcing the arrival of its new president and CEO, Jeffrey Flocken<\/a>, the Long Beach aquarium also unveiled two new additions to its programming and conservation efforts on Monday, Nov. 10.<\/p>\n

The first will see the creation of a new sea turtle rehabilitation area next to the aquarium\u2019s Molina Animal Care Center, which will play a crucial role in supporting existing turtle rescue and rehabilitation efforts that have been ongoing there since 2000.<\/p>\n

The facility \u2014 funded by a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and a donation from the KM Shimano Family Foundation \u2013will feature a 4,000-gallon enclosure and be stocked with specialty equipment and supplies to care for sick and injured turtles.<\/p>\n

Though plans for the facility were originally announced in October 2024, aquarium officials said on Monday that it should be completed in 2026. It won\u2019t be a traditional exhibit, but aquarium attendees will be able to get a peek at the rehab center\u2019s future residents through a viewing window.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis new, upcoming sea turtle rehabilitation area, which is slated to open next year,\u201d Flocken said during a Monday press conference announcing his new position, \u201cwill increase our capacity for helping these rescued animals with the goal of releasing them back into the wild.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Aquarium of the Pacific has worked to rescue, rehabilitate and release sea turtles back into the wild for more than two decades \u2014 and a major part of that effort is the institution\u2019s Southern California Sea Turtle Monitoring Project. That effort brings together both professional and citizen scientists to monitor the creatures,<\/a> who have taken up residence in the San Gabriel River.<\/p>\n

Every week, a group of dedicated volunteers from all walks of life make the 1.5-mile trek down the San Gabriel River bike path to participate in the program, which gathers crucial data that\u2019s used to build out scientist\u2019s understanding of the species\u2019 behavior, the health of the larger ecosystem they occupy and more.<\/p>\n

On one of those trips in March, volunteers spotted a badly injured green sea turtle that was stuck in the river \u2014 because one of its flippers had been tangled in fishing line and debris so badly that it couldn\u2019t swim away.<\/p>\n

Aquarium staffers were later able to rescue the sea turtle. They brought it back to the aquarium for care \u2014 where they discovered that 90% of the turtle\u2019s front flipper was dead from a lack of blood circulation caused by the fishing line tangle \u2014 and that it had a fishing hook lodged in the back of its mouth.<\/p>\n

Veterinary staffers were able to remove the hook from the turtle\u2019s mouth, but the flipper was already dead and couldn\u2019t be saved. It was removed at the ball-and-socket joint by veterinary staff, and now, months later, has completely healed over.<\/p>\n

\u201cSea turtles, we\u2019ve found over the years, can adapt quite well to being re-released missing one to two flippers \u2014 depending on the orientation of where they\u2019re missing,\u201d Nate Jaros, the aquarium\u2019s vice president of animal care, said in front of the turtle\u2019s existing behind-the-scenes quarantine enclosure. \u201cThey\u2019re very adaptive animals. So as you can see, (the turtle) only has three flippers, but is very charismatic, very energetic and exhibits all normal sea turtle behaviors.\u201d<\/p>\n

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A rescued green sea turtle is cared for by staff at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

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A rescued green sea turtle is cared for by staff at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

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A rescued green sea turtle is cared for by staff at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

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A rescued green sea turtle is cared for by staff at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

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The turtle, whose sex and exact age is unknown, has almost fully recovered from its life-threatening injuries. Though still healing from some minor wounds, if all goes well, the turtle is set to be released back into the wild as early as next month, Jaros said.<\/p>\n

The new rehabilitation facility, Jaros said, will play a crucial role in helping the aquarium continue and expand this kind of rescue work \u2014 especially when the aquarium is caring for multiple rescued sea turtles at once, like they were over the course of this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes they\u2019re not compatible,\u201d Jaros said of having multiple sea turtles. \u201cIn other cases, they bother each other, and especially if they have wounds, that becomes a challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n

The area where the three-flippered turtle was being housed on Monday, Jaros said, currently serves many purposes: it\u2019s used to house all kinds of animals if they get sick or have an injury, but it also serves as a temporary shelter for animals that have been rescued, donated or need to be moved for other reasons.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to have multiple enclosures to be able to shift these animals into,\u201d Jaros said, \u201c(so) that we have a place to quarantine those animals so that they don\u2019t introduce any sickness or disease into our grand collection.\u201d<\/p>\n

Besides the news that the new sea turtle rehabilitation facility is set to open next year, the Aquarium of the Pacific also announced on Monday that it has officially signed on to a partnership aimed at helping the population of zebra sharks, an endangered species, rebound in areas where their numbers have declined or disappeared entirely.<\/p>\n

The aquarium is working with a coalition \u2014 called the ReShark \u2014 on its StAR (short for Stegostoma tigrinum Augmentation and Recovery) Project, which will use fertilized eggs from the aquarium\u2019s resident zebra sharks to repopulate the protected area of Raja Ampat in Indonesia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere (are) a few different populations (of zebra sharks). They\u2019re all from the South Pacific area, but in some regions, especially within Indonesia and around Thailand, there was some overfishing over the last few decades,\u201d Jaros said, which drove zebra sharks\u2019 population below sustainable levels. \u201cSo this is all part of rebuilding that population.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Aquarium of the Pacific is no stranger to developing new ways to rebuild the population of zebra sharks. The aquarium, in fact, is home to years of groundbreaking research in that field \u2014 and its scientists were the first in the world to successfully reproduce zebra sharks through artificial insemination all the way back in 2013.<\/p>\n

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Assistant Curator Alyssa Tillman feeds an adult zebra shark at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

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Assistant Curator Alyssa Tillman feeds an adult zebra shark at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

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Assistant Curator Alyssa Tillman feeds an adult zebra shark at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

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Assistant Curator Alyssa Tillman feeds an adult zebra shark at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

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An adult zebra shark swims in an enclosure at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

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Assistant Curator Alyssa Tillman feeds an adult zebra shark at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

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Now, that breakthrough is being put to use as part of the StAR Project. When the aquarium\u2019s resident zebra sharks lay their eggs, veterinary staffers collect and closely monitor the eggs via ultrasound every week to ensure they\u2019re developing properly.<\/p>\n

If and when the eggs reach the right level of maturity and are deemed safe to travel, they\u2019re then sent off to the Seattle Aquarium \u2014 a founding partner of ReShark \u2014 where they are held until there are enough healthy eggs to be sent in bulk to a nursery in Indonesia. The deliveries, the Aquarium of the Pacific said, are timed so the eggs are ready to hatch about a month after they arrive in Raja Ampat.<\/p>\n

Veterinarians and scientists have worked out the very specific conditions needed to successfully ship a tiger shark egg across the world, Jaros said, while the aquarium\u2019s staff veterinarian, Brittany Stevens, performed ultrasounds on various zebra shark eggs that they had recently collected.<\/p>\n

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Veterinarian Dr. Brittany Stevens uses an ultrasound to monitor a developing embryo inside a zebra shark egg at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Veterinarian<\/p>\n

Veterinarian Dr. Brittany Stevens uses an ultrasound to monitor a developing embryo inside a zebra shark egg at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Veterinarian<\/p>\n

Veterinarian Dr. Brittany Stevens uses an ultrasound to monitor a developing embryo inside a zebra shark egg at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

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A juvenile zebra shark is cared for by staff at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

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Veterinarian Dr. Brittany Stevens uses an ultrasound to monitor a developing embryo inside a zebra shark egg at the Aquarium of The Pacific in Long Beach on Monday, Nov. 10, 2025. (Photo by Drew A. Kelley, Press-Telegram\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen the eggs are first laid, they\u2019re sealed \u2014 and over a period of (time) they open up, so there\u2019s actually water exchange with the surrounding environment, unlike a bird egg,\u201d Jaros said. \u201cSo we need to make sure that the water environment in the shipping container is stable and oxygen rich to ensure that the embryo has the highest likelihood of survival.\u201d<\/p>\n

The process has been refined, Jaros said, and although there\u2019s always some risk when it comes to shipping animals \u2014 the fact that these have yet to be born helps decrease the chance of failure.<\/p>\n

One of the aquarium\u2019s residents, a 28-year-old zebra shark named Fern, is among the sharks whose eggs will be used as part of the program.<\/p>\n

Fern, aquarium staffers said, has lived in Long Beach since the 1990s \u2014 and was actually the one whose egg bore the first artificially inseminated zebra shark pup in 2013. She\u2019s one of the oldest \u2014 if not the oldest \u2014 zebra shark in an Association of Zoos and Aquariums-accredited facility.<\/p>\n

Sharks selected for the program undergo rigorous genetic screening, the aquarium said, to ensure their offspring will be viable and won\u2019t harm the long-term health of the populations the ReShark program is working to rebuild.<\/p>\n

Fern happens to have the exact genetic makeup needed to help repopulate Indonesia\u2019s waters with its native zebra sharks \u2014 since she originally came from that same area in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was collected for the aquarium back in the late 1990s,\u201d Jaros said. \u201cSince there has been such a well managed breeding program across AZA-institutions, it\u2019s relatively rare that animals would be collected from the wild.<\/p>\n

But, Jaros added, it does sometimes happen if an animal with a very specific genetic makeup is needed to help rebuild their populations.<\/p>\n

Once eggs from the Aquarium of the Pacific are successfully matured, sent to Indonesia and eventually hatched \u2014 they\u2019ll be released in the Raja Ampat archipelago and monitored by scientists there to ensure the sharks adapt well to the environment.<\/p>\n

And for those of us back in Long Beach, Fern and many other sharks and ocean creatures of all varieties will remain in the Aquarium of the Pacific\u2019s exhibits to help educate the public about their plight \u2014 and all the ways everyday people can help protect the natural world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Aquarium of the Pacific had a busy Monday. Alongside announcing the arrival of its new president and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":48615,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7250,7,23,131,133,132,137,100],"class_list":["post-48614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-aquarium-of-the-pacific","tag-california","tag-local-news","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news","tag-los-angeles-county","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48615"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}