SAN FRANCISCO -- The fish are on the move. The Rubber Lip Perch, the Tree Fish and the Greenling make a break for it as Academy Of Sciences Marine Biologist Nick Yim moves in.

SLIDESHOW: Academy Of Sciences Prepares Animals For Big Move

He sloshes through a foot of water, pushing a plastic bag through their tank, cornering the fish against a rock.

With nowhere left to go, the fish slip into the bag without much fuss.

“Having the clear bags makes it a lot easier,” Yim said. “They can’t really see it. So you just get in front of where they area, they’ll almost swim right into it. ”

Yim hands the bag over the edge of the nine-foot tank and the fish are on their way to their new home.

This same scene will be repeated thousands of times over the coming months as the Academy of Sciences moves its 38,000 inhabitants from temporary digs on Howard Street to its permanent state-of-of the art museum in Golden Gate Park.

This first batch of 45 fish are the first living inhabitants of the California Coast exhibit, a 100,000 gallon tank that resembles a rocky lagoon, complete with massive windows and a wave machine.

“The concrete tank had to be built, the rock work had to be constructed in it, the life support systems have to be turned on and tested, “ said museum curator Bart Shepherd.

Shepherd looked on as the fish were pulled one at a time from a plastic bin and released in their new tank in the academy’s spacious main hall. As the fish hit the water, they cut a straight line for the rocky outcropping that looks as if it was plucked from the sea and plunked down in the middle of the museum.

“New animals are coming over here, two, three days a week,” Shepherd said. “So it’s really starting to ramp up and people are really starting to get excited.”

There’s still plenty of “ramping up” down the pike.

The new museum is scheduled to open Sept. 27. Among the exhibits yet to make the cross-town trek are a 150 pound sea bass, sharks and ancient sturgeon.

As the newly transferred school of fish toured their spacious new digs, gliding past the imitation clams and mussels, Yim stood nearby watching through the exhibits massive windows.

Beneath his hard hat, a smile crept across his face, as the school skimmed along the sandy floor, and headed for home.