‘Facebook for fish’

The Aquarium of the Pacific is the first public aquarium to successfully raise a giant sea bass, and on Thursday, July 26, the fish was seen swimming around in its new tank after nearly tripling in size, prompting the move to a larger exhibit. Yutaka, the giant sea bass, hatched on Oct. 4, 2016, and its parents have been residents of the Blue Cavern exhibit at the aquarium since 1998. In addition to showcasing the giant sea bass, Sandy Trautwein, vice president of animal husbandry at the aquarium, announced the launch of the newest marine program, Spotting Giant Sea Bass. Representatives from the aquarium teamed up with researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) to initiate the program. Douglas McCauley, professor of marine biology at UCSB, explained what the new program entails. “The project serves to sort of deputize ocean enthusiasts and scientists– anybody who likes to dive, snorkel, fish and whatever,” McCauley said. “In the process of doing research, it becomes a […] portal where they send their pictures […] goes up on this site, and then we can make matches for these individuals over time, over space, as people see them in different places and see them over different periods of time. […] The site operates a little bit like a Facebook for fish, which is to say when you submit a picture and you make a match, you then get a notification that somebody else spots that fish in a new place at a different time. So, you connect to the research, and you connect to the story of these fish, which is special and meaningful for us as researchers that are looking to get these stories out into the community better.” Although the giant sea bass is a critically endangered species, Trautwein discussed how the program will help conserve the fish’s population. “Once again,” Trautwein said, “the Aquarium of the Pacific is very proud to be partnering with this project, and we encourage all divers to go out and check out the website, put your photos in, so that we can learn more about where these animals are going, so we can better conserve them.”