Located in Monterey, California, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of California’s bright gems for travelers to visit.
The aquarium is located at the end of Cannery Row, which was once famous for the Hovden Cannery, a sardine cannery which was built in 1916 and closed in 1973.
With an annual attendance of two million visitors, the Monterey Bay Aquarium holds thousands of plants and animals, representing more than 600 species on display.
Also, the aquarium uses fresh ocean water (2,000 US gal) obtained through pipes which pumps the seawater from Monterey Bay per minute, day and night, through more than 100 exhibit tanks.
The centerpiece of the Monterey Bay Aquarium is its Ocean’s Ede Wing which allows for viewing of California coastal marine life, the aquarium was the first in the world to grow live California Giant Kelp. With eighty species of seaweeds grown in the Kelp Forest exhibit, some of the kelp have entered the aquarium through the water from Monterey Bay.
The aquarium is one of the few in the world to feature bluefin and yellowfin tuna. Also, a Kresel tank to display jellyfish. “The Jellies Experience” is a $3.5 million special exhibition that includes elegant jellies such as comb, flower hat and blubber jellies. The exhibit also features interactive settings to create a fluorescent display of jellies and corals.
You can also find octopuses, squid, cuttlefishes and the aquarium is one of the few in the world to hold ocean sunfish in captivity.
Monterey Bay Aquarium also features a penguin exhibit featuring African Black-Footed Penguins.
Here are a few photos I took inside the aquarium:
