MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM TRANSFORMS
ORIGINAL GALLERIES INTO “THE OCEAN’S EDGE”

 

Visit an octopus’s den, walk beneath crashing waves, stroll amid shorebirds and gliding bat rays and much more in Monterey Bay Aquarium’s newly revitalized galleries, The Ocean’s Edge: Coastal Habitats of Monterey Bay.

Ocean’s Edge is a dramatic transformation of the aquarium’s original exhibit galleries that will reintroduce visitors to the coastal habitats of California’s central coast. While favorite exhibits remain, new exhibits and experiences incorporate hands-on approaches and important conservation themes in engaging and exciting ways.

“The Ocean’s Edge exhibits will connect visitors to ocean life and protection of the world’s oceans as never before,” said aquarium Executive Director Julie Packard. “They build on our best exhibits from the original aquarium, adding new stories and engaging activities to keep them fresh for a new generation.”

Signature exhibits like the three-story living Kelp Forest are the gateway to the new Ocean’s Edge galleries, which opened to the public on May 27. The Monterey Bay Habitats exhibit remains home to an impressive variety of sharks and schooling fishes. Touch pools, a walk-through aviary and intimate “jewel case” exhibits continue to invite a closer look at marine life found along the central coast.

But visitors to Ocean’s Edge will find significant and exciting changes, including a walk-through wave crash experience, a much-expanded aviary, a more immersive touch pool and bat ray pool, and more hands-on activities than ever before. The changes reflect 20 years of experience in developing innovative and effective marine life exhibits – exhibits that earned the aquarium recognition as the best in the nation in the 2004 Zagat Survey® U.S. Family Travel Guide.

Hispanic visitors will find bilingual signage throughout Ocean’s Edge that identifies each habitat and key creatures. Video displays feature bilingual captions, and hands on exhibits – many of which encourage family participation and sharing – include bilingual instructions.

High-definition video introduces each living habitat area in the Ocean’s Edge. Every gallery celebrates not just marine life but the human connection with nature and the solutions people are finding to preserve the marine environment. Throughout Ocean’s Edge, visitors will discover ways to get personally involved in protecting the oceans for the future.

Visitors can stay connected to Ocean’s Edge when they leave the aquarium through two new web cams – one along the “shoreline” in the aviary exhibit, the other in the tide pool exhibit in the Rocky Shore gallery. This brings to eight the number of live web cams available at www.montereybayaquarium.org.

Ocean’s Edge highlights include a new and larger gallery devoted to the giant octopus; aviary and wetlands exhibits integrated into an expanded Coastal Wetland to Sandy Shore gallery; new displays for Sandy Seafloor and Shale Reef animals; and a Wharf gallery that tells the story of the seafood we eat – especially how individual seafood choices can preserve both ocean wildlife and healthy fishing communities.

The giant octopus is an amazing animal that is nothing like its menacing legend. It is shy and gentle, highly intelligent, and has an amazing repertoire of abilities and behaviors. Visitors can explore those characteristics in a new Ocean’s Edge gallery devoted to these fascinating animals, among the most popular at the aquarium. Two giant octopuses are on display in a new exhibit that is 30 feet wide – comparable to the 31-foot expanse of the nearby Kelp Forest exhibit. Elaborate rockwork extends up and over visitors’ heads from the center of the double exhibit, creating an illusion of being at the mouth of an octopus’s den.

Opposite the exhibit an interactive video display tells fascinating stories about the octopus, including how it changes its color, pattern, shape or texture as self-defense or to match its mood. Other stories explore octopus biology and the advanced intelligence of these mysterious animals.

Visitors can take a “nature walk” and see the aquarium’s shorebirds and bat rays differently in the revitalized Coastal Wetland to Sandy Shore gallery in Ocean’s Edge. The gallery integrates the former slough, aviary and bat ray exhibits to emphasize the links between the habitats and the many ways people connect with these natural systems.

A simulated nature center with a video “interpreter” greets visitors as they approach, and will prepare them to take a “nature walk” through the rest of the gallery. The aquarium has expanded its popular and peaceful aviary exhibit to include coastal wetland habitat pools on either side of the visitor with new vantage points to see shorebirds, ducks, rays and fishes. Exhibit modifications also include improved wheelchair access for visitors with disabilities.

The exhibit also offers an underwater look at bat rays through new periscopes and a viewing window. Bat rays can swim from a new pool inside the aviary (where no touching is allowed) to the second half of the pool, where visitors can gently touch bat rays as they swim by.

The revitalized Rocky Shore gallery debuted with a splash – literally. The focal point is a walk-through acrylic tunnel in which people can see and feel the power of waves as they crash overhead and into a series of tide pools. Children can experience the tide pools from inside a bubble window, too. In many ways, the redesigned gallery will offer a closer look at marine life along the rugged rocky shore.

Classic exhibits like the surge channel remain, allowing visitors to watch how animals respond when they create currents that rush through rocky passageways. A larger macro-video display features a new zoom camera with above-water as well as underwater views. There is also be a larger, more naturalistic touch pool with a rockwork pinnacle and curved walls designed to encourage exploration by families and groups. The exhibit has pools set at different heights to allow easier access for young children and people with disabilities.

The updated Rocky Shore exhibits includes new displays, including natural history video stories, a multimedia tide pool game, and an up-close view of life in a tide pool and in a wave crash zone.

Hands-on activities are integral to Ocean’s Edge and can be found throughout the revitalized galleries. Visitors can help hide a flatfish model in the sand and discover just how deep tube anemones burrow. They can also learn the impact of choosing seafood that’s not sustainable by “ordering” a meal in the “Real-Cost Cafe.” The cafe is part of a new Wharf gallery that immerses visitors in the sights, sounds and smells of Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey.

In addition to hundreds of living species already on exhibit, new animals featured in Ocean’s Edge include the sheep crab, which has pincers on all eight legs and both claw-arms; the small and ubiquitous sand crab, which lives where water and sand meet and is an important source of food for fishes and birds; and the skeleton shrimp, a tiny and fascinating amphipod that bows and sways in the water as it gathers food with its huge flat claws.

The Ocean’s Edge galleries complete a two-year re-creation of the original aquarium, which opened in 1984. The new exhibits debut a year after major renovations to the aquarium’s main entry and ticketing lobby, and completion of exhibits interpreting the historic Hovden Cannery that once occupied the site.

Ocean’s Edge exhibits and activities are included with aquarium admission of $21.95 adult; $19.95 senior (65+); $17.95 student (13-17 or college ID); and $10.95 child (3-12) and disabled. (Rates effective June 1, 2005.) The aquarium is located on historic Cannery Row in Monterey. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and in summer and major holiday periods from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. (closed Christmas Day).

Seasonal specials, details about special events and programs, family activities and live web cams can all be found online at www.montereybayaquarium.org . More information is available online or by calling (831) 648-4888. Advance tickets can be purchased online; by phone from the aquarium at 1-800-756-3737; and all Northern California Tickets.com outlets or by phone at (408) 998-2277.

The mission of the Monterey Bay Aquarium is to inspire conservation of the oceans.

 

Information and advance tickets are available at www.montereybayaquarium.org.

For ticket prices and to contact the Monterey Bay Aquarium go to California Family Attractions.  

Article and pictures courtesy of the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

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