Stories of the sea

Tucked away next to Sea Life Park on Kalanianaole Highway, the Oceanic Institute has been performing research projects for decades. Now science-minded visitors can access the facility through a 45-minute behind-the-scenes tour.

The tours, which started in January, are the result of a partnership between Sea Life Park and the Oceanic Institute.

The guided tour starts with a 15-minute introduction at Sea Life Park, then takes visitors, 11 years and older, to the institute through an interior gate and past large round tanks where scientists are growing sea urchins, shrimp and more.

"It’s kind of a new era for Oceanic Institute," said Executive Director Shaun Moss. "We’ve received numerous requests to create a public tour throughout the years, and now we’ll be able to showcase the fascinating work being done by our researchers."

Sea Life Park and the Oceanic Institute were once one entity in the 1960s, when Taylor A. Pryor founded the Maka­puu Oceanic Center, featuring an aquarium and park for visitors, along with a marine research facility. In 1972 the marine research center was spun off from Sea Life Park and became the private, nonprofit Oceanic Institute.

In January 2014 the Oceanic Institute became a directed research unit of Hawaii Pacific University.

While it might not have all the same amenities and amusements as Sea Life Park, the Oceanic Institute tour is a great way for budding marine scientists to get a look at real-world aquaculture projects.

When federal funding started to diminish a few years ago, the Oceanic Institute had to get creative, according to Moss. Five years ago the institute held its first and only open house and was surprised when several thousand people showed up simply through word of mouth.

"That’s when it dawned on us, we have a really important story to tell here," he said.

Sea Life Park staff will be guiding the tours, but scientists at Oceanic Institute will be pulled aside, when available, to answer questions.

The shrimp station will give visitors a glimpse into how the institute grows and harvests Pacific white shrimp, using the same selecting breeding technologies as for poultry and swine. The institute has a computerized pedigree database for its shrimp dating back to 1989.

"This station gives us the opportunity to demystify or dispel misperceptions about modern-day shrimp farming," he said.

The animals at Sea Life Park consume shrimp from the institute. They "eat local" to ensure potential pathogens from imported shrimp are not spread around the population at the park.

The sea urchin project is part of reef conservation efforts. Scientists at the institute are cultivating the native sea urchins to offer to The Nature Conservancy, which places them on reefs — at Kane­ohe Bay, for example — where they consume invasive algae.

Visitors can peer into the tanks to see the urchins, which grow to reef-ready maturity in a few months.

Scientists are growing mullet to restock Hawaiian fishponds around the isles, and moi, which have been overfished in local waters, as well as tila­pia, popular in aquaponics, for food sustainability.

The last stop is a station where colorful aquarium fish — clown fish (which kids best know as "Nemo"), yellow tangs and flame angels — are being cultured as an alternative to capturing them in the wild.

Signs were installed at the Oceanic Institute for the tours. Proceeds from the tours benefit the institute.

Spring promotion

Sea Life Park is also offering spring savings for kama­aina and military — $24.99 for a Hawaiian ray encounter, plus park admission and lunch; and $49.99 for a sea lion swim or shark trek, plus park admission and lunch. Valid through June 15; to be eligible, visitors must show ID at the ticket booth. 

For the entire month of May, mothers get in free with one guest admission. Call 259-2500.