Highline MAST Aquarium at Redondo

Highline MAST Aquarium at Redondo Come check out our FREE aquarium with over 250 species of marine life. Highline College's Marine Scie
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The Marine Science and Technology (MaST) Center is the marine laboratory for Highline College. MaST is dedicated to expanding knowledge about the Puget Sound and the surrounding environment through teaching, outreach, and research. Located 4 miles south of campus at Redondo Beach and halfway between Seattle and Tacoma with easy access to a huge diversity of nearby habitats, our 2,500 square-foot f

acility offers public space, classroom, laboratories, office and research areas with state-of-the-art equipment 3,000 gallons of flow-through saltwater tanks, holding more than 250 species of local marine life.

08/23/2026

What is a group of sharks is called? A shiver! Now, do you know what a group of spiny dogfish is called? A pack. They got the name "dog" fish by the way they hunt in packs like canines. We caught a pack on camera hunting right here in Redondo!

If you want to learn more about the different collective nouns for various marine speices, come see us during Discovery Day to check out our new interactive exhibit on the dock.

08/22/2026

The MaST Shark Cam is back in action and just in time to see not 1, not 2, but 3 spiny dogfish! Thank you to all of our dedicated viewers. We know you have missed all of the underwater action the last few days. If you see anything exciting on the livestream, send us a message with a timestamp!

08/22/2026

Are you a diver that does underwater photography? Diving at Redondo Beach in Washington between August and October? Well then you should enter the MaST Center Aquarium's annual Underwater Photography Challenge. Submission period opens October 15th. For challenge details and rules please visit, https://mast.highline.edu/underwater-photography-challenge/.

Baby-Q has been with the MaST Center Aquarium for over a year now! Baby-Q is a wolf-eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus), a fis...
08/21/2026

Baby-Q has been with the MaST Center Aquarium for over a year now!

Baby-Q is a wolf-eel (Anarrhichthys ocellatus), a fish that ranges from the Aleutian Islands to Southern California and is native to the Puget Sound. As seen in the picture from 2025, wolf-eels like to hide in dens, and can also be found in rocky reef areas. Key indicating features include a large head and mouth, with a long grey tapering body covered in black eye-spots.

08/20/2026

We love seeing divers on the MaST Shark Cam! Usually they will wave, clean the camera, or show off their amazing buoyancy skills. But this is a first for passing on a message. Shout out to Sophie!

08/20/2026

Our buddy the seal has been showing off for the MaST's Shark Cam all day. Watch him and all the other marine life live on our livestream on YouTube.

Not all crab bodies found on the beach are dead! Like snakes and spiders, crabs molt when they need to grow bigger. Thei...
08/19/2026

Not all crab bodies found on the beach are dead! Like snakes and spiders, crabs molt when they need to grow bigger. Their hard exoskeleton means they do not have the space to grow bigger, so they shed the hard layer in exchange for a softer body that hardens quickly after the molt.

Young crabs can shed as often as every few weeks, but as the crab grows older it can slow down the process to a few times a year to once a year. The exact timing of these molts varies among species and age.

08/18/2026

Holy Moly! Stage right is a sixgill shark, and then stage left... Is that a monster? Is that a fish?

It's a monster fish called a Mola mola! Also known as the ocean sunfish, it is the heaviest bony fish on Earth and often considered a giant "drifter" because it relies heavily on ocean currents. These massive fish occasionally get pushed up into Washington waters along the outer coast, making a Mola mola sighting in Puget Sound exceptionally rare!

Big thanks to Eight Diving for recording this incredible moment! 🦈☀️🌊

Are you wondering why there is a giant Cheez-It floating at Redondo Beach? Well it's for science of course! The MaST Cen...
08/18/2026

Are you wondering why there is a giant Cheez-It floating at Redondo Beach? Well it's for science of course! The MaST Center Aquarium is a part of the Pacific Northwest Crab Research Group that deploys light traps to monitor native crab larva throughout the Salish Sea.

At MaST, we are comparing two larval light traps to determine if light pollution affects zooplankton catch rates. Sometimes you have to think outside the box, or snack box, to set up experiments on a limited budget. We needed a way to block light pollution around the trap but it needed to float and allow for us to attach it to our pulley system. One of our creative volunteers came up with the idea to use the Cheez-It floaty which checked all of the qualification. It is also a great ice breaker to talk about the research!

If you want to find out more about what we catch in the trap, stop by on Saturdays during Discovery Day to watch our volunteer team sort through samples. Or visit the Pacific Northwest Crab Research Group website at https://www.pnwcrab.com/.

08/14/2026

Our friends at Eight were watching the MaST's Shark Cam and caught a great look at some divers when they saw a Sixgill Shark yesterday. So cool!

Address

28203 Redondo Beach Dr S
Des Moines, WA
98198

Opening Hours

10am - 2pm

Telephone

+12065924000

Website

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