Clownfish clamber around a watery enclosure, a couple of brownbanded bamboo sharks weave between rocks and lines of coral sit in tanks basking under artificial grow lights — all creatures seized from illegal wildlife trafficking and placed at the Aquarium of the Pacific for care and a home.
The Long Beach aquarium took in nearly 1,000 trafficked marine animals over the course of two operations this summer, in which wildlife officials each time intercepted a box truck carrying thousands of confiscated creatures.
