PORT ANGELES — The Feiro Marine Life Center is entering the new year with a farewell to a popular resident but with improvements and plans for bigger and better things.
Feiro will release its resident octopus, Ursula, into the wild soon, is installing a new oyster exhibit and has released a request for bid for a master plan to explore how to build a new marine science building at the center’s site at City Pier, said Melissa Williams, executive director for Feiro.
Ursula, a Pacific giant octopus, has reached breeding age, Williams said, adding that the day of the female octopus’ release will not be made public for the safety of the octopus.
A state permit for keeping an octopus requires that it is released in the area where it was caught — Freshwater Bay.
Female octopuses seek caves or niches when they are ready to breed. After mating, an octopus will lay thousands of eggs — some more than 100,000 — within that cave.
They have been called the world’s best mothers, because they will guard and tend to the eggs without eating — until they die.
Males also die young, swimming away after mating to die.
Pacific giant octopuses are ready to breed at about 3 years old and live to be only 4 or 5.
Even so, they are the longest-lived, and largest, of the octopus species. They grow to an average of 16 feet and 110 pounds, according to National Geographic.
Ursula was thought to be about 18 months old when she was caught last February and replaced Obecka, who was also caught and released at Freshwater Bay.
All of the octopuses kept by the marine center in the past five years have been female.
A new young octopus will take Ursula’s place as soon as one can be found, Williams said.
“We’ve gone out four times [to search for a new octopus],” she said this week.
Over the past six months, the staff and volunteers at the center have been giving the building’s interior and exhibits a makeover.
Feiro has “a fresh look and feel,” Williams said.
The entryway has been redesigned with a new front desk and microscope station, and tanks are being prepared for an oyster bed exhibit.
The new population of oysters will take up residence in acrylic tanks next week, Williams said.
The oyster exhibit was made possible by the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe, the Clallam County Marine Resources Committee and the Port of Port Angeles community partners program, she said.
Feiro officials have issued a request for bids for a business to provide master planning services to examine the feasibility of a new building for the Feiro Marine Life Center and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Olympic Coast National Marine Sanctuary on City Pier.
In partnership with the city of Port Angeles, Feiro is seeking ideas for how a new shared marine science facility could look, Williams said.
Bids are due by 5 p.m. Jan. 25. The winning bidder will be selected in February.
Feiro will seek how to best fit a new classroom, office and laboratory building into the existing pier area, she said.
Williams said public comment will be taken and displays set up in early April at Feiro’s current building for interactive discussions on the placement and design of the building.
A master plan was developed for the area in 2012, but at the time, it was assumed that Feiro would be moving to the corner of Oak and Front streets, and the building was not included in the plan, she said.
The marine center’s educational programs and displays have outgrown their current 3,500-square-foot home, which was built in 1982.
More than 20,000 people visit the center annually, and programs include elementary and high school science classes, summer day camps and adult science lecture programming.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arice@peninsuladailynews.com.
