Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center

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Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center Located on historic Stearns Wharf, this highly interactive regional aquarium offers you close encounters with marine animals from the Santa Barbara Channel.
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In 1987, the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History built the Sea Center on historic Stearns Wharf to communicate the biodiversity and ecological importance of the regional ocean environment. This small aquarium and marine education facility offers guests hands-on encounters with life from the Santa Barbara Channel, including Swell Sharks, rays, sea stars, sea urchins, and anemones. On the Wet Deck, guests experiment like scientists by using oceanographic tools to sample the ocean and examine life below. Upstairs, guests can view mesmerizing jellies, a Two-Spot Octopus, and many other animals found in nearby waters. Life-size replicas of a Gray Whale mother and her calf preside over an unparalleled view of the coast towards East Beach, Montecito, and the spectacular Santa Ynez Mountains.

10/13/2026

Come press algae for art and/or science with us! Our upcoming two-part workshop at the Sea Center on Stearns Wharf starts with pressing algae on November 3 and ends with using the dried specimens two weeks later on November 17. Details and registration link at Algae Pressing Workshop
🌿 **Featured algae in order of appearance** 🌿
Giant Kelp _Macrocystis pyrifera_ forms the foundation of CA's kelp forests.
_Sargassum muticum_ is an invasive species in our region.
Sea Comb _Plocamium cartilagineum_ Sea hares store its pigment and secrete it as ink!
Sea Lettuce _Ulva expansa_ provides food and shelter for intertidal organisms
_Bossiella orbigniana_
_Ulva intestinalis_

Brad in Ventura found this object on the beach. He assumed it was a kind of egg case, and he was right! Curator of Inve...
10/10/2026

Brad in Ventura found this object on the beach. He assumed it was a kind of egg case, and he was right! Curator of Invertebrate Zoology Kristen Michaud, Ph.D., says it appears to be an emptied egg case of an octopus, probably _Octopus bimaculoides_ (one of the two species that go by the common name Two-spot Octopus). The Two-spot Octopus is one of the favorite animals of guests at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center on Stearns Wharf, and the species has an interesting backstory at Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. Learn more at https://www.sbnature.org/collections-research/questions/597

Learn how to press algae for fun, art, and scientific preservation! Join us at the Sea Center on Stearns Wharf for a two...
10/02/2026

Learn how to press algae for fun, art, and scientific preservation! Join us at the Sea Center on Stearns Wharf for a two-part course on Tuesday evenings, November 3 and 17, 6:00–7:30 PM. During the first class, we'll discuss the ecological importance of algae, select specimens, and press them. Two weeks later, we'll meet again to create artwork and start nature journals with the finished specimens. $60 general admission, $50 Members. All materials are included. Details and ticket link at Algae Pressing Workshop.

Thank you so much to the volunteers who collectively removed more than 5,000 pounds of trash from 40 cleanup sites in Sa...
09/30/2026

Thank you so much to the volunteers who collectively removed more than 5,000 pounds of trash from 40 cleanup sites in Santa Barbara County on ! 🏝️ Whether you picked up trash higher up in the watershed or removed it directly from the beach, you took action to protect wildlife and human health. We are grateful to Explore Ecology for organizing this effort every year. 🦭 Sea Center staff Ally Aplin and Audrey Engelsgjerd were captains at our usual monthly cleanup site at East Beach near the skate park, where 42 participants picked up over 90 pounds of waste spread across two miles of beach. The event also tracks the types of litter found. 📉 Plastic or foam pieces, cigarette butts, and food wrappers remain among the most common items. Join us at the same site on the third Sunday of most months for our regular cleanup: details at sbnature.org/calendar 📷 Photo courtesy Ally Aplin

Sea otter teeth crack through clams with ease due to their chip-resistant teeth. 🦷 🦪 🦷 Give those chompers a wide berth ...
09/23/2026

Sea otter teeth crack through clams with ease due to their chip-resistant teeth. 🦷 🦪 🦷 Give those chompers a wide berth and observe sea otters from a respectful distance of more than 60 feet (about 5 kayak lengths). They need a lot of rest— . Use a powerful zoom lens if you hope to take their portrait. 🔭 It’s ! Sea otters help keep Pacific coastal ecosystems in balance. Although populations continue to recover from centuries of devastating fur trade impacts, sea otters still face risks from oil spills, climate change, habitat degradation, pollution, and limited range expansion. Learn more about sea otters and how your actions can make a difference for them at seaottersavvy.org 🦦 Sea Otter Savvy Defenders of Wildlife
📷 Photo by Emily Pomeroy

09/23/2026

We're super excited to welcome Catherine Breed of Swim California to Santa Barbara on Thursday, September 24, and we hope that you'll join us! Our community gathering will take place at 5:30 p.m. at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s Sea Center on Stearns Wharf.

Catherine is swimming approximately 900 miles along the California coast, from the Oregon border to Mexico, stopping in coastal communities along the way to share her experience and connect with people working to protect our waters.

At this special gathering on Stearns Wharf in Santa Barbara, Catherine will share stories from her journey, followed by remarks from Ted Morton, Channelkeeper's executive director, about our work to keep local waters healthy and thriving.

We are grateful to the 's Sea Center for hosting this wonderful community event!

Please RSVP at the link in our bio or click here: https://tinyurl.com/mr2f9sb7

🌊Swim California Community Gathering🌊
Thursday, September 24, 2026
5:30 p.m. Pacific Time
Stearns Wharf, Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center
211 Stearns Wharf
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
breed .seadreamers

09/16/2026

Join us at the East Beach- Chase Palm/Garden Street site this weekend for Coastal Cleanup Day!

09/08/2026

🐙 Join Sedona for a day in her life as a Sea Center volunteer. 🐠 It’s fun to share a love for the ocean, and connecting with animals like the Two-spot Octopus has inspired her art.
Get a behind-the-scenes look at two sides of volunteering: getting hands-on in an advanced role as an aquarist assistant 🐟 and connecting with visitors as an exhibit interpreter. Sedona interprets on the Wet Deck, where we do catch-and-release to demonstrate marine science techniques and the amazing diversity of life under Stearns Wharf. 🌊
From caring for animals to sharing their stories with the public, every shift is a chance to learn, connect, and make a difference for our ocean community. 💙 Want to join? Check out our opportunities at sbnature.org/volunteer

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center exhibit interpreters help guests interact with live animals and demon...
08/20/2026

Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Sea Center exhibit interpreters help guests interact with live animals and demonstrate scientific sampling tools. It’s a great way to learn about local marine life! This is open to ages 11 and up, with 5-month minimum commitment. Come learn more about this and other key volunteer roles during our upcoming Volunteer Open House on Tuesday, September 15, 10:00–11:30 AM at the Museum. Visit https://www.sbnature.org/visit/calendar/9278/volunteer-open-house for details and RSVP.

Address

211 Stearns Wharf
Santa Barbara, CA
93101

Opening Hours

Monday 10am - 5pm
Tuesday 10am - 5pm
Wednesday 10am - 5pm
Thursday 10am - 5pm
Friday 10am - 5pm
Saturday 10am - 5pm
Sunday 10am - 5pm

Telephone

+18059622526

Website

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