The Swamp tank is starting to fill with life. The first fish and the alligator snapping turtles were introduced this week, in advance of the alligators, which will be arriving shortly. Each turtle traveled from Howard Street in its own crate, and they all received physical exams and x-rays before the biologists lowered them into the Swamp. Snapping turtle video clip.Stay tuned for an update after the “big guys” arrive.

The Academy’s Education division recently donated twenty compound microscopes to a local San Francisco teacher who travels to Afghanistan each summer to do trainings with science educators. After years of use in Academy education programs, the microscopes will now go on to inspire students half way around the world – along with anatomy charts, models, hand lenses, and other educational materials, they’ll go to teachers in rural Afghanistan, some of whom may never have used a microscope before. The teachers will then be able to use those tools to bring hands-on science activities to their students. Find out more about the project at http://blog.schoolisopen.org/.

The Academy’s 87-foot-long blue whale skeleton now hovers above the west exhibit hall, the future home of an exhibit called Altered State: Climate Change in California. From a whale watching boat or photo, it can be difficult to grasp the scale of these massive creatures (the largest mammals on Earth)…but it’s incredible to see a skeleton up close and realize you could easily stand up tall inside its ribcage.

Catch a glimpse of the week-long installation process below:

What does it take to move a giant sea bass? For starters, seven aquatic biologists, excellent pallet jack maneuvering skills, and a willingness to get a little wet.

The sea bass waited patiently as the biologists steering the transport container navigated some complicated turns and a few obstacles (like cords, in the photo below, left). After getting acclimated to the water from its new habitat, and splashing around a bit, the large fish was positioned in its sling. Then the biologists hoisted it up and into the tank (below, right), where it joined five California moray eels and a pair of horn sharks.

600 yards of string and 75 yards of muslin fabric later…Ornithology & Mammalogy’s antler bags are complete. Now that the sewing is done, it’s time to get the skulls into their protective bags and hang them up – a process that’s more complicated than you might think.

First, the lower mandible is attached to the rest of the skull with wire. The wire is coated with nylon to protect the bones. Next, a piece of soft foam is inserted between the upper and lower jaw, to keep them from bumping together (below, left). Then a wire is inserted through the back of the skull and a loop is formed at the top (below, right) for hanging.

Then the skull is placed in a small, medium, large, or XL archival cloth bag, which is tied at the top to keep it on (below, left). The last step is to hang the skull up on a hook – by the wire loop, not the tied cloth, of course. Racks like the one pictured below are being filled this week, and are organized by genus and species, so researchers can readily locate the specimens they need in the future.

Our biologists expected that moving the three large leather corals (Sarcophyton sp.) would be the most challenging move yet for the Philippine coral reef exhibit. In the years since they first arrived at Howard Street (where they lived in a 20,000-gallon coral reef tank), the coral colonies have grown considerably, making them rather awkward to handle. They had also become attached to some very heavy rocks, so before bringing them up to the surface to move, a biologist detached some of the heavier rocks, making the rest of the process more manageable.

To keep them comfortable, the corals were loaded into a transport container that was kept nice and moist throughout the trip. The individual coral polyps closed up to protect themselves, secreting a mucus to help conserve moisture during the transition.

Four hands are better than two when it comes to moving heavy, delicate living things, so the biologists worked in pairs to get them into their new 212,000-gallon home (above). Now the polyps are opening back up, and they are adjusting as expected. When the new Academy opens, you’ll see them in front of the largest underwater viewing window in the Philippine coral reef tank – they’re the ones that look like giant chanterelle mushrooms.

It’s not easy to carry around a box of rocks – ever tried it? – but it’s all in a day’s work for Academy biologists. Having recently collected some live rock (below, left) to incorporate into the 100,000 gallon California Coast tank, the biologists began installing it this week. The “live” in “live rock” refers to the living bacteria, algae, snails, limpets, and other critters that make the rocks their home. By adding these to the tank now, they hope that in time, the living organisms will naturally spread and begin growing on other rocks, adding another dimension to the tank, which is modeled after the habitat of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary.

To move the heavy blue box of rocks from the loading dock to the tank area, they used a pallet jack (like a mini-forklift). Then, a few at a time, they were slowly lowered down to the tank floor in the orange bucket seen above, where a diver was waiting to unload and place them throughout the exhibit.

The Foucault Pendulum, a long-time favorite at the old Academy, returns as the first exhibit to be installed in the new Academy’s east wing.

Its first swings demonstrated that yes, in fact, Earth is still rotating (whew!). So how exactly does a pendulum demonstrate Earth’s rotation? Find out here.

In the video clip below, the 235-pound brass ball (called a “bob”) has been set in motion for its first test run. It swings constantly in the same direction, while the Earth rotates beneath it. So as the day goes by, the pendulum knocks down pins one by one (seen in the foreground), demonstrating that over the course of 24 hours, the Academy’s floor turns about 220 degrees. At the North Pole, the floor would turn a full 360 degrees in 24 hours, but at San Francisco’s latitude, we see a 220 degree turn. To get your mind around that one, check out this helpful illustration.

Below, right: The Academy’s original Foucault Pendulum, built in 1951. Since then, the Academy has built 97 other pendulums for museums, universities, etc. all over the world.

This is one of those stories that you won’t find anywhere but the California Academy of Sciences…this week, a small team of volunteers started the process of sewing 150 or so custom-fit bags to protect the Ornithology & Mammalogy department’s collection of antlers and skulls.

Below, from left to right, here’s how one begins crafting an “antler bag” (whether you’re sewing something for a child, your home, or an elk, it’s a remarkably similar process):

1. Record the skull’s dimensions.
2. Cut a first draft of the pattern from butcher paper. Hold it up to the skull to see how the bag will fit, and adjust as needed. The elk (Cervus elaphus) skull pictured in the second photo is from 1913, and is one of the largest in the collection.
3. Using the final pattern, cut the pieces from archival muslin fabric, which will protect the specimens while in storage.

The sewing is taking place as we speak…more to come once the bags are ready to “wear.” Meanwhile, check out this incredible story about how some creative sewing helped our penguin Pierre re-grow his feathers.

As the penguin tank at the end of African Hall is prepped for its full-time inhabitants, the other 20 dioramas in the Hall are also taking shape. Working from detailed photographs of the original works (below, left, on the table), artist Marc Nicely has recreated the diorama backdrops in his Novato workshop, and is now on-site at the new Academy installing and putting the finishing touches on his work. Next up, the rockwork and foliage will be installed in the foreground…