The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center on Stearns Wharf is offering free admission to its Underwater Parks Day Festival, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, thanks to support from the Moeller Lab at UC Santa Barbara.

A person in a gray and white shark costume stands with arm around a smiling woman at the Sea Center. She is wearing a red shirt, blue jumper and a brown hat.
Toothy the Shark smiles for a photo op as he puts his arm around a woman at the Sea Center. Credit: Courtesy photo

The Underwater Parks Day Festival celebrates Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), or underwater parks, that preserve the biodiversity and abundance of ocean life in local coastal waters.

Some of the planet’s most nutrient-rich waters are in the Santa Barbara and Channel Islands region. These waters support abundant marine life found in kelp forests, tide pools, and rocky intertidal reef habitats.

MPAs restrict fishing and the overharvesting of these diverse marine ecosystems to promote stable species populations and recreational use for future generations of visitors.

Sea Center guests will meet scientists and learn about plankton from UCSB’s Moeller Lab, as well as learn about conservation and marine sanctuaries from Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Channel Islands Naturalist Corps, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The first 100 guests will receive Underwater Parks Day reusable tote bags.

Scheduled activities include:

  • Shark Storytime, 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
  • Meet Toothy the Shark, 11:15 a.m. and 1:15 p.m.
  • Meet an aquarist with Brenna Chang, aquarist and live collections manager, noon-12:30 p.m.

“Underwater Parks Day at the Sea Center celebrates marine protected areas in and around Santa Barbara; the places where marine plant and animal species are given the space and support to create new balance and thrive,” said Rachel Metz, Sea Center student and teacher services coordinator .

“Our hope is that when guests leave our Underwater Parks Day Festival, they feel the appropriate amount of awe for the life that calls our coast home. Then, that they’re eager to look out at the water and see more,” she said.

The Sea Center is at 211 Stearns Wharf and is open daily 10 a.m.-5 p.m. For more, visit sbnature.org or call 805-962-2526.