In its 30th year “on the hill” in 2023, Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego is celebrating its all-time attendance record with 523,703 guests, surpassing the previous record of 496,651 from 2019.

Additionally, the aquarium offered a historic number of scholarships, as well as just having received the Quarter Century Award from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, marking 25 years of continuous accreditation.

“This is such an exciting time in the history of Birch Aquarium,” said executive director Harry Helling. “To have come back from the pandemic stronger than ever before is a testament not only to the hard work and dedication of our staff and volunteers but also to the strong support from our community.”

Helling took the helm of Birch Aquarium in October 2015. From the outset, he introduced his vision for a re-imagined aquarium. In the years since he has led Birch through the opening of seven major exhibits and embraced a new mission: to connect ocean understanding to protecting our ocean planet.

Helling talked about some of the changes at Birch during his administration.

Regarding the aquarium’s more proactive stance in protecting the ocean environment, Helling said: “That was the platform I ran on to get this job, creating a renaissance in the field of oceanography, and we set out to do that working at the intersection of conservation and research. We’ve really leveraged the amazing assets within Scripps, and the university, to make super contributions to the community.”

Part of the Birch “renaissance” under Helling has involved reaching out to new groups previously underrepresented as museum guests. “We just ventured more deeply into creating solutions to engage different types of guests,” he said citing, as one example, Birch’s “Oceans At Night” 21-plus program directed at attracting younger adults. “We’ve created events like that that are extremely fun and engaging, telling the story of what happens in the ocean when the lights go out,” noted Helling.

“Part of the reason why we’re having more (aquarium) guests now is because of the new ways we’re trying to interest people in the arts, science and technology to engage new audiences,” Helling said.

He added: “The whole aquarium is used in different ways now having bands, projection maps on the walls, and all our tanks lit at night. We’re drawing interest from new audiences from different parts of the community. Our team is really being more courageous in focusing on engaging our guests and building more engaging experiences.

“We really need to stay relevant and find ways to engage audiences,” said Helling about Birch and its future. “That’s our ‘secret sauce,’ appealing to new audiences built around equity, diversity, and inclusion. And we intend to continue on this trajectory.”

BIRCH AQUARIUM AT SCRIPPS is the public exploration center for Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego. Perched on a bluff overlooking the ocean, Birch Aquarium features the groundbreaking work of Scripps Oceanography and UC San Diego scientists as well as conservation breeding programs and interactive exhibits. Birch Aquarium’s mission is to connect understanding to protecting the ocean planet, which the aquarium achieves through engaging hands-on learning opportunities for more than 500,000 guests and 40,000-plus pre-K-12 students each year.

HISTORY – A public aquarium has been part of Scripps Institution of Oceanography since the very beginning, starting in 1905 with the Little Green Laboratory at La Jolla Cove. Though there were several iterations of aquariums at Scripps, the opening of Birch Aquarium on Sept. 16, 1992, in its current location “on the hill” took the aquarium to the next level, expanding the institution’s public outreach arm.

MILESTONES – The opening of Beyster Family Little Blue Penguins – the biggest aquarium addition in 30 years – entices audiences from all over the country to see the world’s smallest penguins. In January, Oceans at Night, a monthly event about ocean phenomena that take place after dark, was launched. During the 2022-23 school year, the aquarium welcomed 41,000 Pre-K-12 students distributing more than $375,000 in scholarships, an all-time high. Birch Aquarium received the AZA Quarter Century Award, acknowledging the aquarium’s continuous dedication to the best modern zoological practices and philosophies. For more information, visit aquarium.ucsd.edu.