16 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY october 17-23, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com Forty years ago, the Monterey Bay Aquarium began making history for connecting people to local ocean environments in breathtaking ways. On Oct. 20, 1984, the Aquarium doors opened to the public along Cannery Row, bringing in 10,681 visitors on its grand opening and welcoming nearly 2.4 million visitors in its first year. For someone who has never visited, it’s hard to fully capture both the sheer variety of species and the immersive experiences that the Monterey Bay Aquarium offers, let alone describe the feeling of walking through its halls. It’s one thing to look at one of the live cameras, where you can watch sea otter training sessions and penguin feeding sessions from home (or anywhere with an internet connection). Or to read about the Open Sea exhibit, where yellowfin tuna, a hammerhead shark and 400-pound turtles swim in a 1.2 million-gallon tank that spans 90 feet across and 35 feet high. But it’s another thing to watch creatures you’d otherwise never see in person drift past your eyes, separated only by a glass wall. To be in such close proximity to kelp forests, deep-sea fish and invertebrates, or stand beneath a swirling pool of sardines overhead, is an entirely different experience. Most importantly, it’s an experience that can spark curiosity about these animals and underwater environments—and this was the precise goal of the Aquarium’s founders. Following the collapse of the sardine fisheries in the 1950s, David Packard (co-founder of HewlettPackard) and his wife, Lucile, funded the construction of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, with a total investment of $55 million. Three years later, they established the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI) in Moss Landing. The Aquarium and MBARI work closely together to this day, striking a balance between research and public engagement to educate visitors about local marine environments and the species adapting to our changing oceans. Today, the Aquarium occupies over 3 acres, and pumps in up to 2,000 gallons of seawater per minute, first to the Kelp Forest exhibit before getting directed to the many other tanks. Eighty percent of the marine life featured in the Aquarium—about 81,000 animals and plants representing 771 species—is native to California waters, a majority of which are from the Monterey Bay. Over the last 40 years, the Aquarium has had many impressive firsts. It’s the only aquarium in the country that exhibits bluefin and yellowfin tuna, salmon snailfish, ocean sunfish and pyjama squid, to name a few. And it’s the first in the world to successfully exhibit and release great white sharks, to showcase deep sea animals like vampire squid, flapjack octopus and strawberry squid, and to reintroduce rescued southern sea otter pups to the wild through its unique surrogacy program, pairing pups with adult female otters who raise them and teach pups how to groom and forage, as they would in the wild. One of the most striking and popular exhibits is the jellyfish exhibit, where visitors can meander through dark tunnels as jellyfish of all species drift gracefully by, illuminated by soft backlighting. The Aquarium is also one of the first to culture (or grow) many of the jellyfish that are on display. “People have even proposed in front of the brown sea nettle exhibit,” a volunteer shares. This month, the Aquarium is also celebrating 25 years of its Seafood Watch program, which tackles the complex challenge of educating the public on making better choices when it comes to eating fish. The program ties together the Aquarium’s exhibits and even its dining options, with clear ratings based on the health of different fisheries and their fishing practices, guiding people toward more sustainable options. Forty years in, these initiatives— designing new exhibits for visitors, educating students and the general public about ocean conservation and seafood, a successful otter surrogacy program—are widely known, with the Aquarium itself attracting 2 million visitors a year. (Since opening in 1984, it’s hosted 70 million people.) In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the Aquarium is thinking again about how to welcome locals in, and offering Monterey County residents free admission throughout the rest of October. In addition, through the Aquarium’s recent partnership with the Museums for All program, individuals and families receiving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits now have the opportunity to visit free of charge—making the wonders of the ocean more accessible to all. Monterey Bay Aquarium is at 886 Cannery Row, Monterey. Open 10am-5pm daily. $65/general admission; $50/youth, seniors; $45/children ages 5-12; free/children 4 and under; free/up to four people for CalFresh/EBT cardholders. 648-4800, montereybayaquarium.org. Free locals’ tickets are available on a limited basis at montereybayaquarium.org/locals. Blue Marble Monterey Bay Aquarium celebrates 40 years of putting ocean education and conservation at the forefront. By Katie Rodriguez news Above: African penguins dive, waddle and float by Monterey Bay Aquarium visitors. Since it opened, the Aquarium has welcomed 70 million people. Below: The Open Sea exhibit is the Aquarium’s largest tank, home to sea turtles, bluefin and yellowfin tuna, a hammerhead shark and more. Eighty percent of the marine life featured — about 81,000 animals and plants representing 771 species—is native to California waters. Daniel Dreifuss Daniel Dreifuss
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