A $1 million new shark tank – with the chance to touch the residents – was finally unveiled to the public on Saturday, April 10, as the Ocean Institute in Dana Point opened its doors for the first time since March 2020.

With the help of regular donors and the public, the institute’s staff hope to shake off the dark days of the pandemic and look forward to days mirroring those pre-pandemic.

The building’s exterior has fresh paint and its native plant garden is redesigned. The gift shop has moved to the lobby, creating new space for rotating exhibits in the institute’s Chambers Gallery.

On Saturday, the public was also welcomed to a new marine mammal exhibit, which features the ecological history of whales and dolphins and their place in the modern-day environment.  People who book weekend marine mammal cruises get exclusive access to the exhibit before heading out on the institute’s R/V Sea Explorer. Outdoor activities also include tidepool, native plant and geology tours.

The new shark tank features rays and horn sharks.

“Horn sharks are gateway sharks,” said Wendy Marshall, president of the Ocean Institute. “People can learn about this little friend and realize that not all sharks are predators, but recognize (sharks) important contributions to the ecosystem.”

It’s a resilient shark that lives in the rocks and caves found off Southern California. Resilience is a theme for the Ocean Institute these days.

Staying resilient with good deeds

The Ocean Institute, which has traditionally relied heavily on donations and funding from schools that participate in its many educational programs, is making a come back from the dark financial hole it found itself in as the coronavirus pandemic brought school field trips to a halt and closed the doors of educational facilities across the region.

Pre-pandemic, students from across Southern California arrived at the institute by the busload and its summer camp programs sold out almost immediately.

All of that ground to a halt and the institute’s annual fundraiser had to be canceled. Making matters worse, the institute’s iconic tall ship, the Pilgrim, which for decades served as an inspiring real-world classroom to hundreds of thousands of students, sank in the Dana Point Harbor.

Institute officials had to become resourceful and find creative ways to keep their mission of ocean environment education relevant. Thanks to generous donations from the public, they were able to persevere, Marshall said.

“The pandemic trajectory was very dark, but then we got back to our mission,” she said. “It was a morale thing. What can we do?”

Like many other ocean-oriented nonprofits that also relied heavily on school participation, the institute’s staff came up with virtual opportunities.

Wanting to create enthusiasm for the new shark tank, staffers partnered with the Children’s Hospital of Orange County and began broadcasting virtual feedings of the sharks and rays, as well as other fish in their aquariums.

Inspired by that success, they created virtual learning options aligned with school curriculum. For families living at the Thomas Home Shelter in Garden Grove they explained the production and emission of light by a living organism that was creating the bioluminescent event seen along the coast last summer.

Right before Christmas, Marshall and the institute’s director of husbandry delivered supplies to the shelter so the families could participate hands-on with the virtual program. Participants who watched made bioluminescent ornaments for their Christmas trees.

“We led with our good deeds and caught the eyes of donors and the public,” Marshall said. “We decided to stick with our mission. That was our strategy. If you’re going to go down, go down doing the right thing.”

With the help of donors, the institute put on a Marine Environment Science College Fair in March. The plan was to help high school seniors with interest in marine sciences find a way to virtually learn more about college options. More than 1,000 students took advantage.

To help out high school seniors who needed volunteer hours to meet graduation requirements, the institute created an opportunity for them to act as moderators.

Beyond school groups

The pandemic has also brought about a new collaboration with local colleges. Students from UCLA’s Social Enterprise Academy have adopted the institute as a case study. Together with institute staff, they’ve come up with badges that can be earned, and once all are collected, participants are deemed ocean literate.

Topics include understanding the diversity of sea life, ocean exploration and weather and climate.

Marshall acknowledges it will be a long time before school buses line up in front of the institute again. So, while traditionally, the institute’s interior was aimed at school groups, there are now options for others.

“We’ve designed the spaces for individuals to make sense of them on their own,” Marshall said. “If a family wants to spend two hours touching everything, they don’t need to get on a tour that just whips them around.”

“I feel like we’ve been a case study in resilience,” she added. “How do you take something from donations-only basis and move forward.  I’m so proud of us and of the community support.”

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