Alaska SeaLife Center

09/03/2026

An amazing video from Aquarium of Niagara on Papita’s arrival to her new home (👀 and you may see our very own Mammals Curator Shelby who escorted Papita to New York!)

09/01/2026

Miss Papita is making big waves at the Aquarium of Niagara! 💙
We're so excited to see Papita continue to thrive in her new home in New York, and in their newly opened renovated seal habitat! We definitely miss seeing her every day, but her story and impact continues to grow:

“Papita’s rescue and rehabilitation journey reflects what is possible when experienced teams and partners work together through every stage of an animal’s care,” said Tuula Hollmen, Vice President of Life Sciences at the Alaska SeaLife Center. “Our goal for every patient entering rehabilitation is to release them back to the ocean. When release is no longer an option, our responsibility becomes finding a home with best care for the individual. From the local responders who first helped Papita in Seldovia to the veterinarians and animal care professionals who supported her recovery in Alaska, and now to her new home at the Aquarium of Niagara, every decision has centered on understanding her unique needs and supporting her wellbeing. We are grateful to continue her story with a partner whose expertise caring for visually impaired seals will support her wellbeing while inspiring even more people to care about Alaska’s marine life.”

08/30/2026

There is a reason those seal eyes look so big 👀

Underwater, light disappears quickly with depth. Large eyes help seals gather available light and see in dim underwater conditions.

Seal eyes are some very impressive (and very cute!) marine mammal equipment.

Pictured here is wildlife response patient PV2607, who was admitted to the wildlife resposen program form Nikiski this summer.

08/29/2026

Alaska residents!

There’s still time to update your Pick. Click. Give. donation through August 31, 2026 and support Alaska Non-profits!

When you choose to give to the Alaska SeaLife Center through *Pick Click Give,* you help make important work possible for Alaska’s marine life. Your support helps fund wildlife response, research, education, and the daily care that keeps this work moving forward.

Learn what non-profits you can support here: https://pickclickgive.org/organizations

08/29/2026

You might think octopuses are a squishy, soft animal.
Hidden beneath all those squishy arms is a hard beak.
They use a sharp, parrot like beak to bite and process prey.

Soft body. Serious mouthparts! 🐙

08/20/2026

Sea cucumbers are some of the ocean floor’s most underrated recyclers.

Many species consume sediment and organic material, processing it as they move across the seafloor. It's not glamorous work, but the ecosystems benefit from somebody doing the cleanup!

08/14/2026

Mara is a Steller sea lion originally from Canada, and her wild relatives have two very different conservation stories.

The Steller sea lions living right outside our doors in Resurrection Bay are part of the endangered western population.

Mara descends from the eastern population, which recovered enough to be removed from the endangered species list.

Same species, but different populations and different conservation stories!

Learn more about these two populations from NOAA Fisheries Alaska

08/14/2026

Our team is working with NOAA Fisheries Alaska and Kenai Fjords National Park to respond to an entangled whale spotted around Seward over the past few weeks.

Please read the below post to learn how you can help!

When well-intentioned members of the public take matters into their own hands to try and save a whale, they put themselves and the animals in grave danger.

08/14/2026

Mara belongs to the largest sea lion species in the world, and adult males take that title seriously.

Steller sea lion bulls can reach up to 11 feet long and an estimated 2,500 pounds. During breeding season, territorial males may even go one to two months without eating while defending their turf!

Mara (and all Steller sea lion females) may not be doing the bulking, but she belongs to one seriously impressive species!

Here she is next to her guy Pilot, both are frequently seen together in the ASLC Steller sea lion habitat!

08/13/2026

Get to know Mara Part 2!

Mara might seem like just a pretty name, but it's actually pretty fitting for this Steller sea lion. She was named after Mara Rock, a Steller sea lion haulout off the coast of Canada.

Haulouts are places where sea lions come ashore to rest, socialize and spend time out of the water.