By Rachel Thomson
A child reaches into a cup of pink shrimp and tosses a piece into a shallow pool. A tan-and-yellow-flecked flounder eagerly swims up to the surface to devour the tiny piece of meat, nearly jumping out of the water, causing a small splash. The child squeals with delight watching the creature suck up the shrimp like a vacuum.
Small shrimp are just one of the many creatures visitors may see and feed at the Westport Aquarium. Other creatures include “Bob,” the Giant Pacific octopus, “Sabrina,” one of two Wolf eels, some domestic ducks, a Dungeness crab and numerous small sharks. Families can also get up close and personal with creatures commonly found in local tide pools – such as sea urchins and multi-colored Pacific star fish – in the “touch tank.” Families can also look at local shells and skulls and skeletons of animals that live on the Pacific coast such as harbor and fur seals and sea lions. There’s also a station for families to create ocean-themed crafts near the gift shop.
Westport Aquarium owner Marc Myrsell says the best part of owning the aquarium is interacting with people who have little knowledge of the fascinating marine life of the Pacific Northwest coast.
“I love the outreach aspect and meeting people everyday who come to see the aquarium who wouldn’t normally have the chance to talk about the things they see here. I love the people who visit the aquarium.”
History of Resurrection
Myrsell has been working hard to get people to visit the aquarium since he purchased the building in 2009. The aquarium was once an iconic destination on the South Beach for many years. It originally opened in the 1950s. People would come for miles around to look at the marine life on display at the aquarium. Local fisherman would often bring fish and other small creatures to add to the exhibit. There was even an exhibit with harbor seals and sea lions that visitors could watch and feed.
Over time, ownership changed hands repeatedly, according to Myrsell. Once it was owned by a local family for more than two decades. Then it was run by three partners from the Seaside Aquarium in Oregon. According to Myrsell, the last owners – before the Myrsells took over – encountered health problems, rendering them unable to keep the aquarium open. The aquarium remained vacant until Myrsell, who is a land surveyor, decided to purchase the building and resurrect the aquarium to the attraction it once was.
“I wanted to bring the aquarium back,” Myrsell said. “It had been shut down for so long, I felt like it was the fair thing to do for the community.”
The Myrsells live in an apartment above the aquarium. They spent months cleaning and upgrading the facility, resurfacing tanks, adding new paint, adding new glass panels to exhibit areas, hauling in gravel, and replacing pumps and filters. As the Myrsells slowly brought the aquarium back to life with renovations, the crowds started coming back. According to Myrsell, the aquarium had more than 20,000 visitors last year.
New Developments
The aquarium continues to grow. Local fisherman who visited the aquarium as children are keeping a longtime tradition alive by bringing specimens of local sea life to the aquarium — with specially-issued permits for scientific collection from the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
In early 2015, Myrsell is planning to have a display of the skeleton of a gray whale that beached and later died on the shore in the nearby community of Grayland. Myrsell has begun volunteering with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries and helped with the disposal and preservation of the whale and its skeleton and has received permission to display the skeleton in the aquarium.
He also wants to dedicate part of the aquarium to educate people about the commercial fishing industry. He said lots of aquariums, zoos, parks and other attractions aimed at educating people about wildlife can sometimes can have “too strong of a conservation message, and they feel like the bad guy.”
Myrsell wants visitors of the aquarium to understand the role fishermen have and their relationship to oceanic life. He’s talked about adding a “what’s on your plate” exhibit, identifying the types of fish that are common on the Washington coast that are caught and wind up in restaurants, marketplaces, and ultimately on the dinner plate.
“I want to connect the fish in the aquarium to the fishermen who catch them to the fish on your plate,” Myrsell says. “It’s important to preserve that message.”
Myrsell says he won’t be resurrecting the seal exhibit — at least not in the same form that it was when the aquarium operated many years ago. As his knowledge of marine life widened and evolved with his involvement with NOAA Fisheries, so has his vision for the aquarium. He says several pinnipeds — a classification of semi-aquatic mammals that includes seals, sea lions and porpoises — get stranded each year. He’s conducting research with the help of the West Coast Marine Mammal Stranding Network to someday convert part of the aquarium to a rehabilitation facility for animals that have been stranded on the beach. He points out that there are no specialized marine animal rehabilitation facilities in Grays Harbor County and few in the state.
“Very few of the facilities that do exist have the time or the space for [marine mammal rehabilitation],” Myrsell said. “There’s a great need for it and it would be great if we could be a candidate for it.”
The aquarium has ongoing needs that community members can help fill by making a donation. For example, there is always a need for supplies to keep the marine art craft station stocked. Bigger ticket items include replacing glass for a tank ($1,500 for five panes of glass). A wish list of items and ways the public can help can be found on the Westport Aquarium website.
Westport Aquarium
321 Harbor Ave
Westport, WA 98595
Admission: $5.50 adults, $3.50 children, seniors and military, free for children 4 and under
Hours: 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday-Friday.
(During the summer before Labor Day, the aquarium is open seven days a week.)
Contact: 360-268-7070 or wpaquarium@gmail.com
