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Baja Bay

Blue, balmy water. A giant curved window. Green sea turtles, spotted eagle rays, hammerhead sharks. The 280,000-gallon Baja Bay is a microcosm of the warm ocean near Baja California. Be mesmerized.

Swim into Baja

Balmy Baja
Over your head.
Heated to a balmy 77 degrees, Baja Bay is home to tropical and subtropical marine animals that could be found in Hawaii and Mexico, swimming overhead. Find it in the lowest section of the Pacific Seas Aquarium.
Who's in Baja?
Always more to see.
Green sea turtles, spotted eagle rays, hammerhead sharks Dazzling red soldierfish, Cortez angelfish, Panamic porkfish – so many species. Come back to see them all.

Meet our animals

Sunny
Azul
Bruno
Hammerhead sharks
Eagle ray
Tropical fish
Love your lettuce
(and grow to 400 pounds)
Green sea turtles are herbivores – in the wild they would eat seagrasses and algae. Ours love romaine lettuce, bell pepper and other veggies!
They can live for over 80 years, and grow to 300-400 pounds. They live in warm oceans around the world and migrate a lot.
"Flying"
Or just resting.
While spotted eagle rays can seemingly “fly” through the water, they also spend a lot of time feeding and resting on the sea floor.
When threatened, an eagle ray has 2-6 stinging spines at the base of its tail to use for defense.
Hammer head
All the better to eat you.
Broad heads help hunting: Eyes at either end give stereoscopic vision.
More width allows the shark’s sensing organs to find prey buried in sand.

Save Sharks

Support research.

THE THREAT: Many sharks – including hammerheads – are endangered around the world, with declining populations due to overfishing, finning and more.

HOW TO HELP: We’re helping hammerheads by supporting scientists that tag and study them in Hawaii and Baja, Mexico. This helps understand their habitat to better protect them. Your donation can help.

Aquarium Stories

Point Defiance Zoo earns AZA accreditation

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium earned kudos and another five years of accreditation from the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA) in September. The Tacoma zoo also won a significant … Continued

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The Health of Puget Sound

Checking in on Puget Sound’s Health How healthy is Puget Sound? What areas are showing declines, and which are holding steady? Those are the questions divers at Point Defiance Zoo … Continued

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Saving Puget Sound’s Underwater Forests

An underwater crisis is happening, and there isn’t one apparent reason. Since the 1870s, South Puget Sound’s shorelines have lost about two-thirds of their bull kelp forests, according to a … Continued

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Who's Nearby?
Love Baja Bay? Then don’t miss the Waves of Change gallery just next door, and find out how you can protect the ocean.