Bi-monthly Update from the California Academy of Sciences

The following is a bi-monthly update on progress being made at the soon-to-reopen California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.  Opening day is September 27th.

Aquarium:

-Aquatic Biologists Dave Chan, Nick Yim and Nancy Levine returned late Friday from a very successful week of collecting with Monterey Bay Aquarium.  A legion of Academy staff turned out to form a bucket brigade and help transport of hundreds of starfish, sea anemones, snails, crabs, chitons, limpets and other inverts from the loading dock to the California Rocky Coast tank.  It was great to see carts from Special Events, Accounting, Education etc all loaded with buckets of seawater and invertebrates.  Thanks to everyone who helped out.  

-Nick and Nancy spent about 36 hours in San Francisco, and then left again for a collecting trip down in Southern California with Aquarium of the Pacific and Cabrillo Aquarium.  

-The surf perch in the California Rocky Coast tank are already giving birth- there is a group of 10-12 youngsters cruising the tank, doing their best to avoid the Cabezon and Rockfish.

-There are now more than 1,600 fish in the Philippine Coral Reef exhibit.

-Biologists, Academy Staff and Contractors have begun to prepare the live food and jelly culture room in anticipation of the arrival of most of our jellies in early September.  

-The Swamp has been cleaned, prepared and is in final fill mode.  Fishes and the Snapping Turtles will be coming over this week, in anticipation of the alligators arriving on the 19th.

-The Alligator Gar tank is also in final fill and small fish (Texas Cichlids) will be placed in that tank within the next week or so.  

-Biologists are stocking the Flooded Forest gallery focus tanks.  Piranha are on site.  Angelfish, stingrays, electric eel, and Mata mata will follow shortly.

-Interpretative signs are going up everywhere

 

Planetarium:

– Planetarium seating installation was finished on the August 1. Now people will be able to sit down to see shows.

– Most of the final construction, iron work, electrical and painting were completed in the theater.

– Working hard last week and this to make theater capable of doing “talkies.” Namely, we’re finishing up the installation of the Meyer sound system. 

– Speaking of talkies….Sigourney Weaver was recorded for the planetarium show.

– Production team views their work twice daily in the theater.

 

Museum:

-The L-1 floor is full of exhibits!  Nearly all of the modules are in on the “Islands” (east) side, and a few of the exhibit frames on the west side (“Alerted State”) arrived last week. The graphics and audio/visual equipment is currently being installed on the east side.

-Upstairs, the Naturalist Center cabinetry should be completely installed by the end of this week.

-In the Early Explorers’ Cove the exhibits are now nearly complete and looking very inviting for young visitors.

Larry Currie

Academy Librarian

www.calacademy.org

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