The longest animals in the world aren’t what you’d imagine.

What are the longest animals in the world? Hint: you’ve most likely never heard of them. They glow in the dark and have many stomachs, mouths and tentacles – sometimes hundreds. They’re about the width of a broomstick, but they can grow to be more than 100 feet long. So although blue whales are bulkier, some species of this marine animal are longer.

They’re called siphonophores (that’s pronounced sigh-FAWN-oh-for) and they’re cousins to the jellyfish you can see at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Aliens, giant caterpillars, tropical flowers: siphonophores resemble all three. And in today’s QUEST television story you’ll have a unique opportunity to see footage of the siphonophores that live in the Monterey Bay, courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute.

This week’s story also features a behind-the-scenes visit to the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s jellyfish exhibit. And I can promise you that you’ve never seen the orange sea nettles in the giant blue tank quite like you’ll see them in this story.

Watch the Amazing Jellies & Siphonophores television story online.

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By the time I was ten years old I knew the old California Academy of Sciences building by heart. After countless birthday parties, field trips and family outings, my brother and I, along with our sugar-filled urchin gang of friends and cousins, could have led tours of "the Aquarium."

There was the sunken swamp pit where we would crowd to the railing in hopes of seeing the alligators move. Around the other side were the strange amphibians and reptiles, where we would sidestep from window to window until we came upon the two-headed snake. There was the dark aquarium, were we could pretend to be underwater explorers, "diving" with sharks and electric eels and glow-in-the-dark fish. Then off to the planetarium to watch the pendulum swing, waiting impatiently for it to knock over a peg. We would go on a safari through African Hall with its dusty old stuffed lions, gazelles and giraffes, eat lunch in the courtyard and climb up on the smooth Bufano statues. Over 30 years later, I can close my eyes and see the whole place as it was. Glorious.

Nostalgia can be a pretty tough critic. When the California Academy began the process of replacing the old building in Golden Gate Park, I had little hope that they would "do it right." I had watched powerlessly as an incongruously stark copper "aircraft carrier" replaced the classical De Young Museum across the way. What would happen to "my" beloved aquarium?

My fears were somewhat alleviated as I watched the new Cal Academy building taking shape. In QUEST’s television story about green building, we learned about the living roof and other cool stuff. Still I reserved judgment until I could see it for myself.

When we got our behind-the-scenes tour, it blew me away. On the outside, while clearly modern in design, the building still flows well with the botanic surroundings. It looks like it belongs there, incorporating classic architectural elements harkening back to the cherished old Academy and maintaining a synergy with the other buildings in the park. On the inside the Cal Academy is very different from the place I see when I close my eyes. There is a new rainforest housed in what looks like a grand bio-dome. There is also a new planetarium, aquarium and natural history museum. While expanded and brilliantly redesigned, I think ten-year-old me would immediately recognize this place. They saved many of the iconic touches that made the old place so special to me.

For example, I had not realized how much impact something like a railing could make. But for a small boy rushing to see the alligators at the old aquarium, the first thing he would encounter without really realizing it would be that brass seahorse railing. They saved it and now countless more children will lean over those lined-up seahorses to look below at the alligators. They also saved the old pendulum; recreated African Hall much the way it was and they assured me the Bufano statues would have a home there. All these things fit in seamlessly with the beautiful new surroundings filled with light. I only wish the two-headed snake was alive to see it all.

Watch the "Cal Academy Comes to Life" TV Story online, as well as find additional links and resources.

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From fossils and gemstones to bird eggs and a stuffed Kodiak bear, it takes a lot of creativity to pack their collection. Everything seems to have special requirements. Their fish collection is made up of 200,000 jars – all filled with alcohol. And since it's a flammable liquid, they'll need a licensed hazmat driver to take it across town.

The live animals take extra care, of course. In this story, we followed the move of three black tip reef sharks. They hadn't been fed in a few days (so they wouldn't make any, um, deposits in their holding tank) and they weren't easy for the staff to catch, but they made it safely to their new exhibit. Even the largest of the three, F3 as she's known, made it ok, despite being a little groggy at first from too much oxygen.

As curator Bart Shepherd put it, their new Philippine Coral Reef Exhibit is a giant science experiment. The water for the 200,000 gallon tank comes straight from the Pacific Ocean through a four mile pipe. But most impressively, the Academy has been growing coral just for the exhibit. Just managing the water chemistry alone has been a major project, but now several dozen colonies of coral are happily planted in their new home.

Make sure to check out the audio slide show for this story to see how the new building is shaping up. And check out a few of the posts from QUEST science blogger Cat Aboudara, who is an Academy staff member, for more details on what it takes (here, here and here).

Watch the "Moving Day" audio slide show online, as well as find additional links and resources.

Lauren Sommer is an Associate Media Producer for QUEST.

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A fish tank calms my nerves. A fish tank connects me to the sea. A fish tank brings peacefulness into my hectic world. These are the words of marine aquarium owners. The lure of a tropical fish tank is clear: they are mesmerizing and colorful, they are relaxing to gaze at and they bring real sea creatures right into one's home. In fact, between 1.5 and 2 million people worldwide feel this way, and keep marine aquariums, including 800,000 households in the United States alone.1,471 species of fish are traded worldwide, with global trade ranging between 20 and 24 million individual fish annually.

Unfortunately, not enough aficionados of tropical fish know how these beautiful beings got to their local tropical fish store. Fewer than 10% of the fish are captive-bred, meaning most are collected from their coral reef habitats off of places such as Indonesia.

Most collectors are men from small villages, who make mere pennies on their catches. Though they sometimes use nets and their own hands, often they employ squirt bottles full of cyanide. As a result of cyanide use, mortality rates of captured fish are between 5% and 75% within hours of collection, with 20% to 50% of survivors dying soon thereafter. Of those that survive the collection process, another 30% on average die prior to export. Collection using cyanide results in an overall survival rate of less than 1 in 10 fish, at best, and often produces 100% mortality.

For those that make it out of their country of origin and onto a plane, eight out of ten will die en route from lack of oxygen, stale water and trauma. For U.S. export, most of these bagged fish are sent to "fish row" in Los Angeles where they are distributed to fish supply stores all over the country.

The good news is that once tropical fish collectors know more, they tend to act. More and more collectors are asking suppliers about their collection techniques and making informed decisions. Reef Project International is a project of Earth Island Institute (and the supplier of most of this information). They have created a Reef Fish Guide for the aquamarine hobbyist that lets them know if a particular fish falls under "Take it Home" or "Keep it Wild". The guide is available at (www.reefprotect.org). The hope is that when consumers demand sustainable and humane tropical fish, suppliers will respond, and fish and their habitats will benefit.

By the way, Clownfish, like Nemo, are one of the few species that can be captive-bred.

Amy Gotliffe is Conservation Manager at The Oakland Zoo.

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Do-it-yourself tabletop biosphere..

We started with a Table-Top Biosphere, or as MAKE called it, a "Tabletop Shrimp Support Module" or TSSM. The whole idea is to create an entirely self-sustaining aquatic ecosystem within a completely sealed jam jar. If you do it right, your freshwater shrimp "aquanaut" will be able to survive for months without your ever needing to feed it or even open the jar. The ecological balance you create supplies all the air, filtering and food for all the creatures within the jar to survive in perfect harmony. If only the real world was this easy.

Watch the "MAKE it at Home: Table-Top Biosphere" TV Story online, as well as find additional links and resources.

Here are the instructions to make your own table-top biosphere.

Chris Bauer is a Segment Producer for television on QUEST.