What does it take to run life support at one of the most iconic aquariums in the world? On this episode of Inflow, hosts Joe Arlotto and Dr. Jeff sit down with Coral Tyo, Systems Operator II at Monterey Bay Aquarium, for a rare look at day-to-day operations from the control room floor. Coral's team runs far more than life support systems: they also manage the building's HVAC and the aquarium's desalination plant, all backed by an automated control system with more than 20,000 live data points.
Coral walks through the natural seawater system that sets Monterey Bay Aquarium apart, starting with its pigging program. Foam pigs are shot through redundant lines, including an intake that runs a quarter mile offshore and 50 feet below the surface, then picked up by boat. She explains how the pump house, sand filters, and raw seawater system feed the Kelp Forest and Monterey Bay habitats, and how discharge water is treated before it goes back to the bay: drum filtration, UV, and temperature control to stay within five degrees of local water temperatures. The conversation also covers working with the water quality lab, bringing new systems online, commissioning vs. startup, shift rotations, training new operators, and how a diverse team, more women in the control room, and better SOPs have changed the culture of life support.
Coral also shares her own path from landlocked Denver, through Orange Coast College's student-led aquarium program and Denver's aquarium, to a three-month temporary job that turned into her dream role at Monterey Bay. She closes with advice for anyone hoping to become an LSS operator: keep going after what you want, ask questions, and learn from your mistakes.
This episode is sponsored by TJP Engineering. Thank you for supporting Inflow and the LSS community.
Inflow is the podcast where we discuss all things related to aquatic animal life support. Subscribe, leave a review, and find more episodes, show notes, and sponsor info at https://inflowlsspodcast.com/.
- (0:49) Why Monterey Bay Aquarium Matters to the LSS World
- (3:52) Guest Introduction: Coral Tyo, Systems Operator II at Monterey Bay Aquarium
- (6:03) From Denver to the Ocean: Coral's Background
- (8:32) Orange Coast College's Student-Led Aquarium Program
- (10:38) Earning ALSO Level 1 Certification
- (12:30) Persistence Pays Off: Landing a Job at Monterey Bay Aquarium
- (14:44) How Shifts Work at Monterey Bay Aquarium
- (15:37) The Control Room Team: Life Support, HVAC, and Desalination
- (16:52) Day Shift vs. Night Shift
- (18:13) A Diverse Team and Learning HVAC on the Job
- (19:50) Women in Life Support and the Value of SOPs
- (22:08) How Monterey Bay Aquarium's Pigging System Works
- (23:49) Pigging Frequency and Redundant Lines
- (27:42) Retrieving Pigs by Boat
- (29:30) The Pump House and Internal Pigging
- (31:56) From Intake to Exhibits: Sand Filters and Raw Seawater
- (32:43) Discharge Treatment: Drum Filters, UV, and Temperature Control
- (37:07) Working with the Water Quality Lab
- (38:25) The Challenge of Bringing New Systems Online
- (39:55) Automated Controls and 20,000 Live Data Points
- (41:49) Commissioning vs. Startup and Working with the LSS Designer
- (44:27) Biofiltration, the Biobank, and Aquarist vs. LSS Systems
- (46:46) Turnover and Training New Operators
- (49:09) Advice for Aspiring LSS Operators
- (50:20) The LSS Family
- (52:15) Final Thoughts from Dr. Jeff
- (53:01) Outro and Sign-Off
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Greetings all.
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Joe Arlotto here with Dr. Jeff Keithaber.
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Welcome to InFlow, podcast where we discuss all things related
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to aquatic animal life support.
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This show is sponsored by TJP Engineering.
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You can learn more about our sponsors by clicking on the sponsors
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page at inflowlsspodcast.com.
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So there are some iconic facilities out there, not just iconic, but
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groundbreaking, always pushing the standards, whether it's new
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architectural ideas or different species or more stringent water quality
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standards or innovative LSS design.
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And one of these places is Monterey Bay Aquarium.
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If you just look at our guests, we've had Roger Phillips, he worked there,
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John Christianson, Nick Kaiser, Joe Toromansky, our sponsor TJP, Terry
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Johnson has done a lot of work there.
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I remember, uh, Zach Berndt from ASI told a story of eating
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his lunch there as a kid.
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It's a special place.
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It inspires us, and it's important in the aquarium world.
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So there are these places, right, Dr. Jeff?
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That's right, and a good friend of mine, Randy Hamilton,
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was there for years as well.
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I think about the legacy aquariums, uh, around the country and the world, frankly,
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that started as much as a century ago and obviously many decades ago, and, and
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they have had to grow, adapt, evolve.
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Technology changes.
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We're much more energy usage now, t- uh, energy intense.
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I remember days when we, we had gravity sand filters.
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Uh, no, I don't remember that.
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Anyway, um- You don't remember very much, really But the point, I guess the point
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here is, and, and, and even SeaWorld, um, a, a very large multi-aquarium facility
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that has, has 60 years of age on it, uh, all of these facilities, um, have
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adopted new technology as they come along.
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A- and you pretty much have to stay nimble, you have to stay quick, you
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have to jump to opportunities, and always think about the next generation,
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whether that was Abu Dhabi, but now there's another generation beyond that.
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A- and so we just keep our minds moving forward, and, uh, I think young people in
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the industry help propel that even more.
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I also want to mention something, Joe, about conservation and animals that we
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display and the species we have h- over the years, uh, have evolved to fe- to, to
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make sure that our guests, our visitors, understand the importance of conservation
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of these animals and how important they are if they're endangered, threatened, or
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otherwise, that they get to see them, uh, in a, in a place where otherwise out in
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the world they would maybe never see them Yeah, you make a, a lot of good points.
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I, I think things are changing and our design is changing because the, the
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standards are different now, right?
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We're not-- We have different water quality standards.
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We have different sustainability standards, energy standards, saving
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water standards, and so, you know, the operators, for as great as it is to talk
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to all the folks that used to work at all the aquariums, and we did things
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this way, you know, we have to adapt and change with what's happening in the world.
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And our guest today, um, does work at Monterey Bay Aquarium, but she's,
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she's a relatively new operator and is doing things maybe a, a little
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different because the equipment is, is different and the systems are different.
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So welcome to Coral Tayo, systems operator two from Monterey Bay Aquarium.
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Coral, welcome to Inflow.
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Hi guys.
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Thank you so much for having me.
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That intro was very inspiring and I think it just like further reminds
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me, and probably lots of other operators, why we do what we do.
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It really is about like bringing the ocean to people who wouldn't maybe not have
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access to it in the wild, and being able to inspire ocean conservation, which is
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the motto of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
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So this is very interesting, Coral.
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I like that, and I bet that people listening can tell
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that you're into what you do.
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And I wanna say a little side note here, because when the podcast first
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started, I got some, some feedback.
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"Oh, it's, you know, interesting," you know, "You're doing a good
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job," and, "I like that guest."
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Coral was like, "I wanna be on the show because I wanna talk about
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what we're doing at MBA now." And I personally was inspired by that.
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I'm like, "We gotta get her on." And so after, after a couple ins and outs
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and, and, uh, we finally made it happen.
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And, you know, you made it happen, Coral, and I think your enthusiasm for wanting to
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share what you're doing is a great thing.
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Yeah.
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Thank you.
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I think, like you said earlier, it's great to have all of these people with so much
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experience and been in starting facilities up or worked so many different facilities.
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But I think a lot of the bread and butter of what you guys are talking
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about is in the hands of operators now, and so I think it'll be really cool to
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provide the daily ops perspective, and just gives people a little bit more
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of a ins and outs and less of a, less focus for what I'm gonna talk about,
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about like bringing facilities online and how it's changed over the years.
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'Cause like you said, I am fairly new into the industry.
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Yeah.
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Makes a lot of sense.
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So, so let's, uh, let's quickly go through how you made it to MBA.
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Where are you from, and how'd you find your way there?
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Yeah, I am from Denver, Colorado originally, born and
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raised, a landlocked girly.
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But I think that is what kind of inspired me to follow an ocean path growing up.
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I was always super into the ocean, and always said I wanted to do marine bio,
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and then after I graduated high school, I started at a junior college in Orange
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County that had an aquarium program.
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And so I think after going through that program, I just realized that
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this is the path I need to pursue.
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So after a few smaller facilities and internships doing more things on the
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husbandry side, there was an opening for life support in Denver actually, which is
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where I started, and then I had to follow the ocean, and here we are in Monterey.
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It finally worked out.
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So Coral, uh, in Denver, the aquarium, which I remember an old
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name called Colorado's Ocean Journey, and it was, uh, you know, that
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drop of water experience, right?
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Where you, you journey down the Colorado River and freshwater systems, and you
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end up in the Sea of Cortez or the Gulf of California, and, a- and you
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end up in this coral reef environment.
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How did that experience, the drop of water I call it, but how did
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that, uh, motivate you even further?
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Well, I always thought it was really cool how Denver followed that path.
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Ocean Journey was before my time, but the, the structure was still the same.
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And so for me, it being we're starting here with what we would have locally
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in Colorado, and then kind of making the journey, I think was also symbolic
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of my personal journey of, okay, I'm starting here, but ultimately we're
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gonna end up in the marine world.
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And I think that it was really cool for the guest experience to be immersed
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in different, we had like the flash flood exhibit, which shows desert
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ecology or animals, if you will.
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And so I think it just fully solidifies the full picture that just because we
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are an aquarium and we work with water, it doesn't just mean the ocean or
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the tropical fish or the pretty fish.
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Exactly.
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So go, go back quickly.
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So what was, where did you go to school?
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'Cause I know it had kind of a special program, just for our listeners
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and people that might be interested in finding some sort of program.
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What, where and what was that?
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Yes.
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Thank you for circling back to that.
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It's Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, California.
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For me, it was a really great opportunity because it was the first time I ever
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realized that aquarium and marine science happens in school, coming from
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the Colorado world into California.
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And this program was a student-led aquarium, pretty small scale compared to
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what we're all used to and think of, but it was student-led, so it gave students
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the opportunity to teach others, to manage the daily ops of the aquarium, to show
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water changes, life support, water quality on a small scale, like titrations, and
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just you really get a feel for everything that you would be doing moving forward,
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but you're learning from your peers.
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And you have support, of course, from professors, but I think the student-led
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aspect and learning from the peers was what made it even more special because
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now look at us, we're all kind of working side by side in a bigger capacity.
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And on that point, Coral, at, uh, Orange Coast College, OCC, there,
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there used to be, and I was living in Laguna Beach at the time teaching
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oceanography at Saddleback College, but there used to be a PBS Los Angeles
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program around the oceanography program at OCC, and there, there were
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some famous names that, uh, escape me now, that used to star on that show.
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Do you, were you familiar with that, or is that before your time?
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I am not familiar with that.
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Yeah Jeff, we're having her on the show because she's new, okay?
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She's new- Yeah … and she's innovative and doing stuff different, you know?
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And, and it's- Stop dragging up, stop dredging up the past I'm,
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you know, I'm showing my age.
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So Denver, I wanna mention a name, okay?
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Joe Jock.
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You must have worked for Joe Jock at Denver.
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Oh, I did, and I still stay in contact with him.
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He's the best.
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He really did, like, inspire me to follow and pursue the career further
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after Denver, and just made me realize, like, this isn't just a job, it's a
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career and it's a lifestyle, and I'm sure he would tell you the same thing now.
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He's been in the industry, I think he just celebrated nearly 30 years at
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Denver, so he's a good one for sure.
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Yeah.
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He's, um, he's a friend of mine and, uh, Joe is, for as smart as he is,
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and for as good as a LSS operator and manager he is, he is an excellent person
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and just super interesting to talk to.
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And, and just a side note, Joe went to the very, very first, you know,
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the, the, the very first Alsos, and I worked with Joe and Alex Hunter,
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one of our previous guests, and Brian Oblisk, um, in, in developing that
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first operator certification program.
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So J- Joe was integral in that and provided a, a lot of input
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and a lot of good technical stuff, and I just … I, I don't know.
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I love Joe and, and, uh, I, I look forward to seeing him again real soon.
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Yeah.
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Good stuff, Joe.
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And, uh, I think, Coral, about, uh, when you say, when you graduate from
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the program there at, um, Orange Coast, you are a certified level one?
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Is that right?
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Yes.
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I think that the coursework might vary as it is now, um, but there was
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a life support specific class during that program that had the opportunity
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to take the also level one exam.
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So that was where it all started in like 2020 for me.
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And even during COVID, we were able to still take it online.
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Yeah.
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Also works with various, uh, colleges to, uh, to provide
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the, that, the certification.
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It's great.
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So you were at Denver, and then you wanted to get to MBA, right?
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I did.
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MBA was always the bigger goal, the bigger picture.
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Um, it took me a while to get here.
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Over a span of five or so years, I was applying to various different jobs,
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and then I decided to still move to California anyways, just get myself
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back in a better position and be closer should the right opportunity open up.
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So I was living in Santa Cruz, and I had been at my job, which was not in the
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aquarium industry, for about a year, a little over a year, when a term position
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opened up on the life support team here.
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So I left a job, a comfy job, over a year and a half for a three-month position, and
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I've now been here for nearly three years.
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So the leap worked out in this case, thankfully.
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Yeah.
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You certainly had a, you had your eye on it and just made it happen.
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Persistence is key.
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That's right.
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That's important point both of you just made, is that you got your eyes set on
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something, and you went out and pursued it, and you were tenacious about it.
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You, you, unrelenting.
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You just went after it.
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And, and I, I believe, Coral, that quality is a wonderful thing.
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Yeah, I mean, it, it translates to doing your job as a life
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support operator, right?
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And digging into the, to the equipment and to the water quality
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and to solving the problem.
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Yeah.
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Yeah, absolutely, and I think being tenacious and working through
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obstacles and continuing to push forward is important not only in
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life support, but also in life.
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And if you're considering applying to a place, a dream facility, if
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you will, and you don't get it the first or maybe even the third time,
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I think it's really important to take that into consideration too.
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Like, this is the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
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The competition, the applicants, they're all so strong, so I think
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it's all about timing, and when it's meant to work out, it will.
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And I think my journey has been exemplary of that.
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Yeah, it's a testament to that, for sure.
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So let's talk about MBA.
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L- let's talk about your job there.
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So you're on a, a shift, and how, how do the shifts work at MBA?
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Our schedule is quite complex.
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So we have some fixed shifts, whether that's a morning shift or
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a swing shift or a night shift, and then we have rotating shifts.
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So the rotation would be three months of day shift and one month of night shift,
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and we operate on a four-10 schedule.
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So we get three days off every week, and we, for the most part, our
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days that we work will be the same.
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So it's not like they're gonna schedule me random days.
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Every single schedule is repetitive for each person.
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So there's at least consistency in that, even if we have to
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rotate from days to nights.
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And let me just back up for a moment.
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It, it, what do you call the team?
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Is it the life support system team, LSS team, or… And how many, how many
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total employees are in that group?
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I'm glad you asked that, because we do more than just life support.
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So we're called the control room team.
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Um, we're called systems operators because we operate more than
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just life support systems.
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We are also in charge of building HVAC systems as well as our desalination plant.
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So we, those are the big three that we manage, and our team recently
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just grew in size in order to manage all of that to our best capacity.
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So we have about 20 people on the team, about 20 operators, three
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supervisors, and one director.
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So those cover all the shifts, correct?
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Yes.
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Yes.
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Okay.
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And so you are currently on night shift.
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How does your job differ from a, from being on night
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shift to being on day shift?
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It m- must be different.
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It's way different.
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On day shifts, it's a lot more fast-paced, can be chaotic because not only are
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we dealing with our own workload, but we get calls from the husbandry staff
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or whatever other building staff, "Oh, it's too hot in this space." We have
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to manage all the systems while the building is full with guests and staff.
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Whereas on night shift, the building capacity is much lower.
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So we typically have a minimum of two operators on shift for a night
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shift, and we're there to just make sure that everything's in check.
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We can work on some special projects that we might not be able to do
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when we have guests and public here.
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Um, but it's a little bit slower paced for the most part
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until something happens, right?
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And sometimes the building has other plans for us, and having to turn your
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brain on to be able to handle these situations, it sometimes is a little
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bit of a curve for the rotators.
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The permanent night guys, they're dialed, they're on it all the time.
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But for us rotators, they definitely give us a little bit of grace.
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Sure.
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And how would you describe sort of your staff as a whole in terms of
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their backgrounds and how… You don't have to go through every one of them,
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but, I mean, how are they trained?
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Are they trained like you?
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It, it must be pretty diverse.
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I think the diversity on the team is one of the most special things about our team,
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and obviously I'm biased, but we have so many different backgrounds on the team.
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We have people who are from different countries.
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We've got people who came from various branches of the military.
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We have some mechanical engineering backgrounds.
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We've got the marine science backgrounds.
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We have the husbandry turned life support operators, and I think that
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all of these different strengths really make our team strong as a whole to face
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anything that can get thrown at us.
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We've got the HVAC guy who can go do an emergency repair on a chiller or
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an air handler if something happens.
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That brings up, uh, my next thought, is that we have had a lot of
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facilities folks on the show that have life support in their portfolio.
00:19:06
Um, you are describing that the, you, you, your colleagues, in, in your, on your team
00:19:14
actually perform building maintenance, HVAC, let's say, functions as well, right?
00:19:23
Yes.
00:19:23
Yes.
00:19:24
When I started this job, I didn't have any HVAC experience other than, like,
00:19:29
changing the temperature on a thermostat.
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But I think that the, the root of it all is a mechanical connection.
00:19:38
Like the HVAC systems, if you have general mechanical awareness or
00:19:42
knowledge or experience or not, you can learn how to work on these
00:19:47
various systems just by following…
00:19:50
I think of it as Legos.
00:19:51
What we take apart, we put back together the same way, and that's
00:19:55
kind of a general theme for all of these different equipment.
00:20:00
And there are men and women on, on your staff, correct?
00:20:04
Yes.
00:20:04
Yes.
00:20:05
Almost one-third of our team is actually female, which is totally different for me.
00:20:10
When I was at Denver, I was the only girl.
00:20:13
So when I walked into my interview here and one of the supervisors was a woman, I
00:20:18
was like, "Oh my gosh." And here we are.
00:20:20
We continue to grow, and we have gained, in my time, three
00:20:25
additional females on the team.
00:20:26
So I think it's a really important balance, and if you were to talk to
00:20:30
one of our senior operators who's been here for nearly 30 years, he can really
00:20:36
tell the story of how having females on the team has shifted the culture
00:20:41
and the vibe of life support, of the control room, and just made it a little
00:20:47
more light, a little more welcoming, and a little less, in his words,
00:20:53
"locker room chat, locker room vibes."
00:20:56
Things change, not only mechanically and sustainability-wise, but also,
00:21:01
uh, the, the staff changes, too, and that's a, that's a good thing.
00:21:05
Yeah, I don't think we've ever had as many SOPs as we have now that
00:21:10
we have more females on the team.
00:21:12
We definitely have increased the documentation, and I think that's one
00:21:16
of the main benefits that, not the main, but one of the benefits that we have.
00:21:22
I think you make a good point.
00:21:23
One thing I run into all the time is, "Well, you know, we've been doing it this
00:21:27
way for 30 years, and so why do I need an SOP?" A- and you hear that all the time.
00:21:34
A- and so it's important that you put some of this stuff down on paper, or digitally,
00:21:41
uh, and have that available to everyone.
00:21:44
Coral?
00:21:46
Absolutely, and I think with our team being so big as well, it's important to
00:21:51
have standard operating procedures to live by so that maybe someone does things
00:21:56
a little bit differently, but that we're all standardizing the methods and the
00:22:00
outcomes of the work that we're doing.
00:22:03
Yeah, makes sense.
00:22:04
So we get a feel for like what your team is like.
00:22:08
I wanna get right into something that I have been-- that I sort of, I
00:22:13
sort of associate with MBA, and I've heard talks on it over the years.
00:22:20
You know, many of, of the MBA people over the years have gone
00:22:24
to the CALSO conferences and AZFA conferences and given talks.
00:22:28
So briefly describe your pigging system for folks that-- Because a lot of
00:22:35
facilities don't have pigging systems, might not know what pigging is, have
00:22:40
certainly not directly worked with it.
00:22:42
What is a pigging system and what do you have to do with it?
00:22:45
Yes, pigging is one of our favorite topics to talk about because we
00:22:52
are blessed with having natural seawater from the Monterey Bay.
00:22:57
That also comes with bio growth in our pipes.
00:23:01
So we have to do what we call pigging on a regular basis, and
00:23:06
we shoot basically these foam…
00:23:09
If you think of the Mario character, the cannon guy where his nose is kind of
00:23:13
tapered in, that's what they look like.
00:23:15
So it's this foam pig with a tapered nose, and we shoot it through
00:23:19
the pipes to clear the growth.
00:23:20
So we break it down in two different categories.
00:23:24
We have internal pigging where we shoot pigs through various internal ports.
00:23:29
We have five launching ports to clean out some of the smaller internal lines, and
00:23:34
we have intake pigging, so where we'll push a pig from the pump house through
00:23:40
our intake line and out to the water.
00:23:42
We retrieve the pig with a boat so that we can make sure that our intake
00:23:46
lines are remaining clear at all times.
00:23:49
And Coral, how often, what is the frequency of pigging?
00:23:54
And do you have dual, two lines so that one can go anaerobic and
00:24:00
you're operating off the other?
00:24:03
Exactly.
00:24:04
For both cases, for intake and for internal, we have
00:24:08
redundancy in that sense.
00:24:09
So for intake pigging, we do it every six weeks, and for internal
00:24:15
pigging, we do it twice a year.
00:24:17
And the, the process is a little bit different for both of those instances.
00:24:21
For internal pigging in the fall, we essentially will just leave stagnant
00:24:27
water in one line while the building runs off of the other line, and the stagnant
00:24:32
water goes anaerobic and helps to soften the growth in the pipes so that the pigs
00:24:39
will be more efficient in clearing it.
00:24:41
And same thing for the intake line, the same thing.
00:24:44
Whereas in the spring, we will charge those lines, the internal
00:24:48
lines, with fresh water, and we let it rot down for a longer period of
00:24:53
time to really get anything that might still be built up in there.
00:24:57
Yeah, so, so for our listeners, so well what's… Okay, you have a,
00:25:02
in simplified terms, you have a big pipe going out into the bay, okay?
00:25:06
And because you want to make sure you're bringing water in that's
00:25:12
relatively deep and, and not so close to the, to the mixed up shore.
00:25:17
It's about a quarter mile off from the back depth of the aquarium, and it
00:25:22
lays about 50 feet below the surface.
00:25:25
Okay, so you, you're on a timetable now because over the years you know
00:25:32
how quickly things grow, but is there any way to know a, a, a flow, or is
00:25:40
there any way to know you need to pig other than just the time that you
00:25:45
know it takes for this stuff to grow?
00:25:47
Is there any parameter you see that says, "Oh, you know what? I
00:25:51
can't wait six weeks, I gotta pig now." For pigging, not so much.
00:25:57
We pretty much stick to the schedule, but we do have smaller lines that
00:26:02
definitely either they don't get pigged or they grow at a faster
00:26:06
rate than what we're ready for.
00:26:07
Mm-hmm.
00:26:07
So in those instances, we'll see a significant drop-off in flow.
00:26:11
When the air lock doesn't work and this, that, and the other, we try all
00:26:15
the things, typically that results in, like, a snaking or a jetting
00:26:19
adventure rather than a pigging.
00:26:21
Our pigging, we only shoot the smallest size that we have is four inches.
00:26:27
So we don't pig every single line, and that would be crazy if we did.
00:26:33
So what you need, just for our, for our listeners, because, uh, Jeff and I,
00:26:37
we worked with a, a, a pigging system like this at a, a pretty extensive
00:26:42
one at Seaworld Abu Dhabi, but when it's designed, you need to have some
00:26:48
sort of place to put the pigging in.
00:26:51
You gotta have valves to isolate it.
00:26:53
You gotta have a door that opens.
00:26:55
You got a 22-inch pig you gotta stick in there.
00:26:58
You gotta close the door, and somehow you have to have some sort of valve to
00:27:02
open to allow the water to push that through, through the pipe, correct?
00:27:08
Yes, exactly.
00:27:09
In a lot of cases it's a flange, a blind flange at the end, and
00:27:14
they can sometimes Y off so that we have a place to load the pig.
00:27:18
And then whether we're charging the line with domestic water for
00:27:22
that extra pressure to push it through, or we can use our seawater
00:27:27
lines to push it through, that's definitely the process that we follow.
00:27:32
L- let me just ask, uh, the obvious.
00:27:35
It, now, so you're a quarter-mile offshore, you're 50 feet down,
00:27:40
and you're pigging that line.
00:27:42
I'm assuming you go out and retrieve the pigs, divers?
00:27:47
It floats.
00:27:47
Does it float, the pig?
00:27:49
It floats.
00:27:51
It floats.
00:27:51
We do not need- Yeah … divers, and of course we retrieve
00:27:54
it because we do not litter.
00:27:56
So we get to go out on a boat.
00:27:58
There's typically one or two people on the boat who will follow, track
00:28:02
the pig down, and hoist it on board.
00:28:05
We shoot for intake pigging about three.
00:28:07
We go three rounds just to get it as clear as possible, and so
00:28:11
that means three pigs that we're retrieving and bringing back onshore.
00:28:15
Can't, can't you train a sea lion or an otter to go down and get it?
00:28:19
Hey, hey, she's- We can't give you all of our secrets … she's
00:28:23
got enough to do, Jeff.
00:28:25
Stop making her job more complicated.
00:28:27
So but these pigs, I, you know, they're like, I don't know what yours are
00:28:31
made of, they're like heavy styrofoam.
00:28:34
They're heavy.
00:28:34
Yep.
00:28:35
They're, they got some girth to them.
00:28:37
They're extra heavy when they're waterlogged, so it's funny
00:28:41
trying to get them on the boat.
00:28:42
You have to do the whole push down and get some momentum out of it, you know?
00:28:46
Wow.
00:28:46
So- It's an art.
00:28:47
Okay?
00:28:48
So, so do you do that?
00:28:50
Is that part of what your team does?
00:28:52
Yes.
00:28:53
So we do all pigging, all pigging endeavors are done in-house.
00:28:57
So we have a few on our team who are certified to run the boat, so they'll take
00:29:03
some operators out with them, and then we typically divide out into two crews.
00:29:08
So there's an intake or a pump house crew that's pushing the pig down the line,
00:29:12
and then there's the retrieval crew.
00:29:14
And same thing for internal pigging.
00:29:16
However, in internal pigging, it's much more of a cleanup effort
00:29:20
than it is for intake pigging.
00:29:24
Yeah, describe that a little bit.
00:29:25
So, so you're, you're pumping your water in from a quarter mile out.
00:29:30
Are you … So you've got external piping, which you're talking
00:29:33
about, then you're circulating that water within the building.
00:29:37
That's your internal piping.
00:29:38
So is there a basin in between that that you fill?
00:29:42
Or how, how does that work?
00:29:45
That's a complex question to answer, but so basically our pump house acts as
00:29:50
our basin, so that's our main reservoir.
00:29:52
So instead of pulling directly from the intake and pushing into the
00:29:56
building, we pull into the pump house, and then we take from the pump house.
00:30:01
And then we have various different modes that we can run.
00:30:05
So maybe we will be pushing water directly into the Kelp Forest tank,
00:30:10
which sometimes acts as a basin for us for our filtered water.
00:30:15
A lo- it's what we call the secondaries.
00:30:17
The secondary pumps pull from the plenum of the Kelp Forest tank
00:30:21
through the rest of the building to provide filtered seawater.
00:30:24
And then we do have an additional reservoir based on what mode we're
00:30:28
in, where if we needed to run it in a semi-closed mode, for example,
00:30:34
then we have this large reservoir that we can pull filtered seawater
00:30:37
from and rely less on what we're bringing in from the ocean- Right
00:30:41
or the pump house.
00:30:43
And that internal pigging, that's powered or that's pushed by a, a
00:30:47
dedicated pigging pump that you turn on to pig that internal line as well?
00:30:56
Typically for internal pigging, we actually use domestic water.
00:31:00
So we have little hose connections, and we can hook up the cam lock and then open
00:31:05
the valve to push it with domestic water.
00:31:08
And since it's going out into an open space rather than into an
00:31:13
exhibit, there's no complications with using domestic water.
00:31:18
Yeah, that's fascinating.
00:31:19
I have to say the p- the pigging process is fascinating, um, and, uh, it's super
00:31:24
complex, and I know you're giving us kind of a watered-down version because
00:31:28
I know there's lots of ins and outs to it, but it's, uh, it's very unique,
00:31:32
and MBA has a very unique system.
00:31:35
Yes.
00:31:36
Thank you.
00:31:36
It's always fun.
00:31:37
It's always fun, especially since it only happens twice a year.
00:31:40
It's always fun to get on the boat and retrieve the pigs, so it's
00:31:43
definitely something that, yes, it's work, but we enjoy doing it.
00:31:49
Sure.
00:31:50
So I'm gonna transition a little bit.
00:31:53
My thought went to the intake processes.
00:31:56
So from the pump house to any of the exhibits, uh, or habitats,
00:32:03
what happens in between?
00:32:07
Yeah, so our pump house, the intake line runs into the back of the basement where
00:32:13
it then splits into two directions.
00:32:16
So it can send water to the main sand filters.
00:32:19
Our main seawater system consists of six sand filters.
00:32:23
Three of them go to our kelp forest exhibit, and three of them go to
00:32:26
our Monterey Bay habitats exhibit.
00:32:29
And the other route of water that it, or the other route that the water
00:32:34
could take is to our raw seawater pump, which provides raw water directly
00:32:38
up to our kelp forest tank, and to whichever, we call them risers.
00:32:43
So if the raw riser is full, that pump is what keeps it full, and then any
00:32:48
exhibits that wanna use raw water, that's being supplied from that raw pump.
00:32:54
So let's switch a little bit here.
00:32:57
We could talk about intake forever really.
00:33:00
There's so many i- ins and outs to it, but I wanna keep moving.
00:33:04
And so discharge is its own thing, and I think that a lot of people just think,
00:33:10
oh, you know, you just, you take water in and you just dump it out back to the bay.
00:33:14
Like, it's all good.
00:33:15
But it's much more complex than that because you guys at MBA, you really…
00:33:21
Well, we're all concerned about the environment, but, but you need to
00:33:25
put water back that's almost the same way that you took it from the bay.
00:33:30
So describe how you treat your discharge water.
00:33:35
Yes, exactly.
00:33:36
So in a lot of cases, almost 80% of our marine life is native to
00:33:41
the bay, so in those cases we can-
00:33:47
Push the water to outfall with little to no treatment other
00:33:51
than our typical filtration.
00:33:53
But in cases of what we call exotics, where it's a non-native species or
00:33:58
the water temperature is different, or maybe it was a medicated system,
00:34:02
which we have a separate little holding pool for that gets trucked out, but
00:34:07
we have to run it through three-step filtration before we can discharge it.
00:34:12
So we go first through drum filter filtration, where we can grab out any
00:34:17
of the smaller particles, then we go through UV filtration, and finally
00:34:22
it runs through temperature control.
00:34:24
We have to stay within less than five degree differential of what our local bay
00:34:32
temperatures are so that we're not harming any of the local species near the outfalls
00:34:37
or destroying that environment at all.
00:34:40
And we have a whole discharge team that, that takes care of those parameters
00:34:44
and works with the state about it.
00:34:47
Interesting.
00:34:48
So the, the drum itself, uh, what, what size screen is on that?
00:34:53
Uh, and w- what sorts of exotics might, particulate exotics that you
00:35:00
might remove there versus what the UV system basically is working on?
00:35:09
I believe the drums go down to about 10 microns.
00:35:14
Don't fact, or don't hold me to that, I'll have to fact check, but I think
00:35:18
that both of our drum systems go down to 10 microns, and I, in the case of the
00:35:24
nearshore side, we have birds as well.
00:35:27
So I think like just sifting through any of those fine particulates from
00:35:31
the birds or any maybe bio sand that was used in coral exhibits or whatever
00:35:37
may be the case from the tropical side of things, that's what the drum
00:35:41
will take out, and then the UV just kind of is the final, like make sure
00:35:46
we're 100% in, in co- what's the word?
00:35:50
Correspondence or compliance.
00:35:52
Thank you.
00:35:53
Compliance with what we're discharging.
00:35:56
Yeah.
00:35:56
Well, you know, I mean, this is fascinating because n- not only do
00:36:00
you guys work very hard at making your exhibits to be natural and to, and
00:36:08
the parameters need to be just right, and you need to be taking care of your
00:36:11
animals specifically and perfectly, you also take on this idea of like,
00:36:17
well, we, we need to replenish.
00:36:20
We gotta need to put the water back in the bay exactly how we took it, because even
00:36:24
temperature changes can have an effect.
00:36:26
So this is quite, uh, this is quite responsible and quite complicated
00:36:31
what you do with your discharge water.
00:36:34
Yeah, and I would just add, and where, where coral, how far offshore
00:36:39
is the discharge pipe outfall?
00:36:43
Yes, the discharge pipe is actually pretty close to the building.
00:36:47
So we have four various discharges, and for the most part they're
00:36:52
right up against the building.
00:36:54
They don't go out too far into the bay, but you can't typically see
00:36:59
them based on what the tide is doing.
00:37:01
So it's not like you look out in the ocean and you see this
00:37:05
random water exiting our building.
00:37:07
It's typically covered with the tide.
00:37:10
Interesting.
00:37:11
So, so you talked a little bit about, about the, some of the capabilities
00:37:15
of your staff and HVAC and, and different, uh, different skills they
00:37:20
have, but what about water quality?
00:37:23
You must have a pretty extensive lab, and how do you interact with, with
00:37:28
the water quality folks a- and making adjustments that you need to make based
00:37:33
on what kind of test results you see?
00:37:37
Yeah, we definitely work closely with the water quality team.
00:37:41
Karen Tuttle runs a really nice ship here.
00:37:43
She has a state-of-the-art lab.
00:37:45
I'm sure she has talked about it in many different capacities over the years.
00:37:50
But we work in tight, tight bonds with them as far as like
00:37:54
coordinating testing days and how and when they pull the samples.
00:37:59
Maybe they need us to make system manipulations to test different variables,
00:38:03
and then typically they take all of their samples, and they'll get back
00:38:08
to us only if something's concerning.
00:38:10
So we kind of live in the no news is good news realm, but when things pop
00:38:15
up as a red flag, then it's like a team effort of putting our team, husbandry
00:38:20
and water quality, heads together to try to tackle it from the source.
00:38:25
So what do you see as your greatest challenge there?
00:38:27
I mean, is it, is it staffing?
00:38:30
Is it budget?
00:38:31
You know, what, what do you find most difficult?
00:38:36
I think sometimes bringing new systems online can be difficult because of
00:38:42
course it's brand-new equipment, so it's gonna work perfectly, right?
00:38:46
Of course.
00:38:46
Of course.
00:38:47
Um- We don't even, we don't even need you for.
00:38:49
Oh my God … of course, but you need us when that's not the case.
00:38:53
And so I think we've recently gotten through the weeds with one of the new
00:38:57
systems that we've brought online just in time to bring a whole new wing online.
00:39:03
Our tropical wing is coming online, what used to be Splash
00:39:07
Zone, and it's been demoed.
00:39:08
So we've got a lot of new equipment to be looking out for, which is exciting.
00:39:13
And I think another challenge is when naively you think, "Oh, I'm just gonna go
00:39:18
do this really quick, this one simple task that'll take me 10 minutes." And of course
00:39:24
the bolt gets stuck, or it shears off, or the silly things that you run into.
00:39:29
So I've learned to never say, "Oh, it'll be so easy and straightforward," you know?
00:39:34
'Cause those are always the, the challenges that build up
00:39:37
when you're not expecting it.
00:39:39
Yeah.
00:39:39
One thing, and Joe knows this t- too, is that no startup goes as you would expect,
00:39:45
and that's why the term commissioning is present in the engineering world to
00:39:52
get us through the headaches of startup.
00:39:55
And, and that can be days and weeks.
00:39:58
But anyway, I just wanted to add that comment.
00:40:02
I wanna shift, Coral, to automated controls and some ex- extension
00:40:08
of what the lab measures you are monitoring continuously.
00:40:15
Uh, maybe you're controlling off points, ORP comes to mind with
00:40:19
respect to ozone dosing or whatever.
00:40:22
And, uh, so can you comment on the extent of your, uh, automated control systems?
00:40:30
Yeah, absolutely.
00:40:32
Our system is nearly fully automated.
00:40:36
Um, we heavily rely on our automated controls.
00:40:39
I think we have over 20 live data points that we get feedback from
00:40:44
on the computer as well as mobily.
00:40:46
We're able to take a phone with us so we can have access to it
00:40:50
anywhere we are in the building.
00:40:52
And what comes to mind relating to automated systems and water quality is
00:40:57
our deep exhibits, where we have to be really intimate with our DO parameters,
00:41:03
pH, the flows, the temperatures.
00:41:06
And in a lot of cases, we can make changes mobily to, like, the duration and
00:41:12
intervals of dosing, for example, but you also need to be able to, like, adjust the
00:41:18
dosing valves and be able to do physical manipulations to meet those parameters.
00:41:23
For the deep, the exhibits are quite small, and the parameters
00:41:28
have to stay really tight.
00:41:30
So the thing with small exhibits and tight parameters is small
00:41:34
changes make a big difference.
00:41:36
So we've definitely gotta be really careful when working on those systems, but
00:41:40
I think it's a really nice way to stay up to date, and you- you're really involved
00:41:47
with what's happening with each system.
00:41:49
Whereas some of the larger systems that don't need as much attention, you know,
00:41:54
you can kind of get away with prioritizing the deep, for example, if you need to.
00:41:59
Well said.
00:42:00
I wanna go back to what, what you said, Dr. Jeff, about commissioning, and I,
00:42:04
I find that to be very important for LSS systems, but very forgotten, right?
00:42:11
They do extensive commissioning on mechanical system, HVA systems.
00:42:15
They have a lot of control points and a lot of parameters that need to be met.
00:42:20
And sometimes the LSS, we're like, "Okay, start it up. Yeah,
00:42:22
okay, we're done." Like, there's nobody really commissioning it.
00:42:27
So that's-- this is a two-part question for you, Carl.
00:42:30
How much do you interact with the LSS designer?
00:42:35
And then when you do start up this new system, are you familiar with
00:42:41
the design enough that you know how it's actually supposed to respond?
00:42:50
Yes.
00:42:51
So our current LSS designer is actually a previous operator, so she's really
00:42:57
good about making decisions and keeping us in front of mind because
00:43:02
she knows what it's like to be in our shoes, or our boots rather.
00:43:06
So I think in that case, we have a really nice, um, relationship going there where
00:43:11
she does keep us in the loop and is willing and open to answer any questions
00:43:16
we may have upon startup or after and during all the troubleshooting, et cetera.
00:43:21
And I think as far as being well-versed in the designs ahead of time, I think that
00:43:27
varies with systems because typically the design happens outside of our realm, and
00:43:33
we don't get brought in until there's, like, water in the system or it's g-
00:43:38
it's pretty close to being finished, so that they kind of do all of the
00:43:43
troubleshooting and weed out whatever may not be working before they bring it to us.
00:43:48
And then there's usually a period of time of, like, a trial period where
00:43:52
before we put any animals, we just run the system with water to see how it
00:43:56
operates, and I think in that case, it's up to each individual operator to spend
00:44:02
the time to figure out that system, and then we can all learn from each other.
00:44:08
Sure.
00:44:08
That's like startup versus commissioning, you know?
00:44:11
I think that time, we used to call it, in the Navy we used to call it shakedown.
00:44:14
You know, we would, we'd ha- we would have a shakedown cruise to where we
00:44:18
would operate all the systems sort of just to get a feel for them and to see
00:44:23
if they're, they got electrical, they got-- they're installed correctly.
00:44:27
But then that commissioning is really saying, how close does
00:44:31
this operation match the design?
00:44:35
And, um, you know, it's, it's helpful to be, to be, uh, familiar with it.
00:44:40
My thought on that is closed systems versus open or semi-open, right?
00:44:44
I mean, there's a period of time that you have to establish
00:44:47
biological filtration, uh, you know, before you would add the animals.
00:44:53
And I would imagine even on a natural seawater semi-open process, you would
00:44:58
have a period of time that you run.
00:45:00
Is, is there a, a, a period of time-- We, we use 30 days, but
00:45:06
we often don't have 30 days.
00:45:09
So what, what coral are you willing to accept, a- and when
00:45:14
does that commissioning end and that s- that true startup begins?
00:45:21
I think those decisions typically lie with the water quality, the
00:45:26
husbandry, the vet staff as far as what they're comfortable with to start
00:45:31
up and add animals to the system.
00:45:34
And in a lot of cases, it's a fairly small scale, but we have a continuously
00:45:39
running biobank, what we call, where we keep fluidized sand beds
00:45:43
in there and bioballs so that we can maintain consistent biofiltration.
00:45:48
So if we need to slap one of those on a system, we can do it in one
00:45:53
day instead of having to wait the 30-day period, like you mentioned.
00:45:57
Um, but those are on a smaller scale for sure.
00:46:00
Oh, I wanted to ask, small systems, boutique, jewel, aquarist-run systems
00:46:08
versus the LSS team, is there a-- yeah, I asked this to other guests,
00:46:14
is there a volume of water where that's the aquarist's realm versus
00:46:20
the life support operator realm?
00:46:25
I don't know if we base it off of a volume of water necessarily, and if
00:46:30
we do, I don't know that exact figure.
00:46:32
But I think, yeah, exactly, it's just size dependent and also organism dependent.
00:46:37
Like, there are some jewel tanks where the only thing we do is provide the water, and
00:46:44
if the, the line gets clogged, we fix it.
00:46:46
And other than that, it's outside of our hands.
00:46:50
Do you have a lot of turnover there, Coral?
00:46:51
I mean, are you, are you, uh, are you training new staff a lot?
00:46:56
Or how does that work?
00:47:00
I would say the typical turnover rate is about two years.
00:47:05
That's just, like, an average, and that's what I was told when I started.
00:47:09
And right now we're actually experiencing a series of turnover in our current
00:47:16
team, and when that happens, yes, it's a solid training period of at least three
00:47:21
to six months of all hands on deck.
00:47:23
We're all peer training these new hires.
00:47:26
And something about our facility, and probably many others as well, is
00:47:31
you're never gonna know everything.
00:47:33
So yes, in three to six months you should have some general grounding of, like, what
00:47:39
the service areas are and a general path of water, but there's so much to know.
00:47:44
Even coming from Denver, this place was, like, twice the size, and there…
00:47:48
It was-- It took me about a year to feel confident of I know what I'm
00:47:52
doing and I belong here, you know?
00:47:54
Yeah.
00:47:54
Yeah.
00:47:55
So I don't-- I think we have good team culture, we have good team dynamic,
00:48:00
um, but we live in Monterey, and so there's a lot of growth opportunities
00:48:03
elsewhere as well, and that's okay.
00:48:07
Yeah, yeah, no, I, I ask that because the, the control system
00:48:11
I know is very complex there.
00:48:13
It's not… I mean, uh, uh, I know Mike Brigham has been working on that
00:48:17
for a couple lifetimes now, and, um- Yeah … and he just keeps adding to
00:48:22
it and updating it, and it must be… A- and for you, having a large staff,
00:48:27
I mean, 20 operators i- is a lot.
00:48:30
You're gonna have turnover for sure, and that just means a lot of training
00:48:35
for the more experienced ones like you.
00:48:37
It just must take time.
00:48:38
That's all.
00:48:40
It does take time, and I think, like, when we go through these phases of
00:48:46
the team number changing, it just adjusts our capacity a little bit.
00:48:50
So- Sure … getting to 20 was a huge jump, which allowed us to do more larger
00:48:55
shutdowns and personal projects, and we have the bigger capacity to work
00:49:00
with, and we'll just have to adjust that a little bit more, reduce it down a
00:49:04
little in this weird time so that we can focus on intentional training as well.
00:49:09
Yeah.
00:49:10
Yeah.
00:49:10
It makes, makes sense.
00:49:12
Uh, and, and it's, it's, uh, it's gotta be a big, a big part of your job.
00:49:16
But so I'm very glad that we covered the intake, and the
00:49:21
pigging, and the discharge.
00:49:23
I really wanted to get to that.
00:49:24
So what would you… You know, you've had a, an interesting career and,
00:49:28
and you knew that you wanted to do this really f- from the beginning.
00:49:31
So what would be your advice to somebody who wants to be an LSS
00:49:36
operator or has this, this interest?
00:49:40
What would your be advice on, on, on how they can make it into the LSS world?
00:49:47
Yeah, I think like we talked about in the beginning, just if you have a
00:49:50
dream, go for it, and if it doesn't work out the first time, keep going
00:49:54
for it, because one day it will.
00:49:56
And something about the life support world is that, like I said, you're never gonna
00:50:00
know everything, so being comfortable to ask questions and being able to learn
00:50:05
from your mistakes, which is a huge thing, because you're gonna make mistakes- Sure.
00:50:09
Yeah … and you're gonna make a lot of them.
00:50:11
Yeah.
00:50:11
And not everything is catastrophic, so it's really important that you learn from
00:50:15
those mistakes, because I think that's how you retain information the best.
00:50:20
And realizing that just because you made a mistake doesn't make you a bad operator.
00:50:24
It doesn't mean you're not meant to be here.
00:50:27
Just means that you're gonna learn and grow and move on, and you'll
00:50:30
be a better operator for it.
00:50:32
Yeah.
00:50:33
Well said, and, um, there's a lot there.
00:50:36
But I, I don't know why I, I, I want to acknowledge you, Coral, for a few things.
00:50:42
Number one, like I said before, for getting in touch with me
00:50:45
and, and wanting to share what you do, 'cause it's super cool.
00:50:48
Also, I wanna tell our listeners, you know, we're a big family.
00:50:52
I- this LSS family is awesome.
00:50:54
I got a email from an operator in Jerusalem at the Jerusalem Zoo,
00:51:02
and they said, "We're coming to the US, we're gonna be in California.
00:51:06
Can you hook us up with the Monterey Bay Aquarium?" I had not even met Coral yet,
00:51:10
but I knew that she was enthusiastic about, about, about the podcast.
00:51:15
So I emailed and I said, "Hey, Coral, I know I don't really know you, but
00:51:18
would you mind taking these folks around?" And you did, and they loved it.
00:51:22
And they wrote me and said thank you, and that just is a testament to you
00:51:25
and what you do and how into it you are, and I appreciate that Thank you.
00:51:30
That was a really awesome opportunity, and I think you hit it right on the head that
00:51:35
we are a big family, and I think that's exemplified in things like ALSO, where
00:51:39
you make all of these connections all over the country and all over the world,
00:51:43
and you can maintain those relationships.
00:51:46
And maybe somewhere down the line you have a problem that you know someone
00:51:50
at ALSO has encountered, so you call them up and you're like, "Hey,
00:51:54
can you help me work through this?
00:51:55
You're in a different time zone, but here we are." And I think that's one of the
00:51:59
really special things about life support.
00:52:01
'Cause it is, it is a niche, you know, environment to be in.
00:52:05
It's a niche career.
00:52:06
Not everyone understands or realizes what we do, and I think that's
00:52:10
what makes it so special and what makes those bonds so important.
00:52:15
Last word, Dr. Jeff.
00:52:17
I'm gonna speak from the animal perspective.
00:52:19
They appreciate deeply.
00:52:22
They can't talk to us, right?
00:52:24
They, they can't tell us what's wrong with the water, but they benefit their
00:52:30
health and welfare from the water and the quality of the water we, we provide them.
00:52:37
And Coral, you're part of that.
00:52:38
I think you, you hit the nail on the head with respect to the networking and the
00:52:42
community aspect and the communication, and learning from your mistakes.
00:52:48
You said that.
00:52:49
Don't make the same mistake twice.
00:52:51
Learn from the first one, and also be curious and creative,
00:52:56
and keep moving forward.
00:52:59
I love it.
00:53:00
Coral, thank you.
00:53:01
Thank you so much.
00:53:03
It's been a long time coming, but I'm really glad to have
00:53:06
met you, and I look forward to meeting you in person, for sure.
00:53:08
So thank you to Coral.
00:53:11
Thank you to Coral Tajo from Monterey Bay Aquarium.
00:53:14
And thanks to TJP for sponsoring the show.
00:53:17
And thank you all for listening to Inflow.
00:53:19
Be sure to subscribe and leave us a review.
00:53:21
And don't forget, you can always stay connected with us at inflowlsspodcast.com.