Monterey Bay Aquarium a world–renowned institution

A Forest of Kelp. The Aquarium’s Kelp Forest exhibit holds approximately one–third of a million gallons or 1,268,109 liters of water. Monterey Bay Aquarium was the first aquarium in the world to exhibit a living kelp forest. The water’s temperature is kept between 50 and 56 degrees Fahrenheit, and the windowpanes are 7–1/4 inches thick. At 28 feet high, the Forest is one of the tallest aquarium exhibits in the world. Sardines, leopard sharks, wolf–eels and a host of other fishes weave among the fronds of kelp, just as they do in the wild. The exhibit opens to the sky and the light streaming through the amber fronds helps the kelp grow more than 4 inches a day. Watch scuba divers feed the wildlife twice a day, at 11:30 am and 4 pm.  [Top]

An Ocean Within the Ocean. Take a peek in a window to the endless, mysterious world of open waters. The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s spectacular 1–million–gallon Outer Bay exhibit is home to the largest community of open–ocean animals found in any aquarium. Giant bluefin tuna power their way through the water. Hammerhead sharks circle inches away. Sea turtles cruise lazily by. The Outer Bay also features the largest permanent collection of jellyfish species in the United States. Egg–yolk jellies and sea nettles drift gently in ten–foot–long exhibits beautifully lit to accentuate the jellies' delicate beauty. Comb jellies pulse with rainbow bands of light as they swim.  [Top]

Did You Know? The Aquarium has appeared on film more than once. In addition to a PBS Nature special, in 1986, the museum played the role of a futuristic institution in the feature film Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Paramount Pictures shot scenes in the front of the aquarium, the entrance, the Marine Mammal Gallery and the decks. Lucasfilm's Industrial Light and Magic firm "reinvented the whale," using special effects, and making it appear that there were two humpback whales in captivity. Movie magic transformed the aquarium into the "Sausalito Cetacean Institute," complete with San Francisco's skyline behind it.  [Top]