This year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, and the Aquarium of the Pacific is inviting kids and adults at home to join in for its first virtual Earth Day event. You can watch special appearances by the Aquarium’s animal ambassadors, including penguins. For parents looking for educational activities for kids and teens, the Aquarium’s educators will present a variety of Earth Day-themed interactive classes.
The Aquarium’s Pacific Pals characters will release a special episode of their show The Daily Bubble to celebrate the special day. Adults are invited to tune in at 7:00 p.m. PDT for a live-streamed lecture hosted by Aquarium President Dr. Jerry Schubel featuring guest speaker Douglas McCauley, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. McCauley will share how we can all take inspiration, in challenging times, from lessons of resiliency in our ocean and what responsibility we have, on Earth Day, to recommit to protecting ocean health.
The Aquarium has hosted its annual Earth Day Celebration in April, a weekend-long festival featuring booths and activities, for the past twenty years. This year it will use technology to observe Earth Day and provide a way for the public to connect with ocean science while they are at home.
Virtual Earth Day Full Schedule:
8:45 a.m. Live introduction with Aquarium educator
9:00 a.m. Friends in the Sea (Pre-K-K live class) with sulfur crested cockatoo appearance
9:45 a.m. Animal appearance: sulfur crested cockatoo explores the Honda Blue Cavern*
10:00 a.m. Draw With Us: Habitats (grades K-2 live class) with penguin appearance
10:45 a.m. Animal appearance: Penguins at the Honda Blue Cavern*
11:00 a.m. All About Invertebrates (grades 3-5 live class) with desert tortoise appearance
11:45 a.m. Animal appearance: desert tortoise at the Honda Blue Cavern*
12:00 p.m. The Daily Bubble with the Pacific Pals
1:00 p.m. Honda Blue Cavern Webcam Live with MC
1:00 p.m. Aquarium Live Ep 5: Animals and their Senses (grades K-5 live class) with rosy boa appearance
1:45 p.m. Animal appearance: rosy boa at the Honda Blue Cavern*
2:00 p.m. Whales & Conservation (grades 6-8 live class) with Virginia opossum appearance
2:45 p.m. Animal appearance: Virginia opossum*
4:00 p.m. Moon Jelly Webcam Live
5:00 p.m. Wrap-up for the Day Live
7:00 p.m. Guest Lecture: Flood Tides and the Affairs of Humans with Douglas McCauley
*Aquarium’s Facebook live (all other programming accessible from the Aquarium’s website)
WHERE: Aquarium of the Pacific’s website: aquariumofpacific.org/events/info/earth_day_celebration/
