Did you know that 2009 is The Year of the Fish and the Year of Science for The Pier Aquarium?

We're celebrating our 20th birthday and honoring it with a year full of interesting (and educational) family-friendly FISH-ful Saturdays (FFS) held the first and third Saturday of each month. This observance coincides with a very important 2009 designation: The Year of Science by COPUS (Coalition on the Public Understanding of Science), of which we're a member. COPUS is a growing grassroots network of "anyone who cares about science and is concerned about national scientific literacy." We've created FFS programing directly from COPUS monthly themes.

For March, the theme is "Physics and Technology." Last week's FFS was "Fishy Physics!" which explored the idea of fish that could fly. Flying fish have unique pectoral fins (fins on their sides) which help them soar  through the air. March 21 is "The Study of Fish."

The rest of the year's themes:
April - Energy
May - Sustainability and the Environment
June - Oceans and Water
July - Astronomy
August - Weather and Climate
September - Biodiversity and Conservation
October - Geosciences and Planet Earth
November - Chemistry
December - Sciences and Health

We'll update you with the topics as we approach them each month (the end of the preceding month).