Oregon Coast Aquarium

About

The Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport is one of the Pacific Northwest's premier marine science destinations, drawing more than 400,000 visitors annually to its 32-acre campus on the Yaquina Bay. Opened in 1992, the aquarium became internationally famous as the temporary home of Keiko, the orca who starred in Free Willy—a relationship that sparked major public interest in marine mammal welfare and conservation. The aquarium's exhibits explore the full range of Pacific Ocean habitats, from tide pools and rocky shores to the open ocean. Passages of the Deep is the signature experience: a walk-through acrylic tunnel beneath 35-foot ocean tanks filled with sharks, rays, rockfish, and hundreds of other Pacific species. The Coastal Birds aviary allows visitors to walk among puffins, murres, and pigeon guillemots in a free-flight enclosure. Permanent galleries cover jellyfish, sea otters, giant Pacific octopus, and the variety of invertebrate life found along the Oregon coast. The aquarium partners with NOAA's nearby Hatfield Marine Science Center, creating an informal science corridor in Newport that together forms one of the strongest marine science education clusters on the West Coast. The aquarium's education department offers homeschool programs, school field trips, behind-the-scenes keeper experiences, and a Teen Apprenticeship Program. The campus includes an outdoor picnic area and cafe, and the bay-side setting affords excellent views of harbor seals, cormorants, and occasionally gray whales migrating offshore.

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