page_title: Monterey Bay Aquarium
section_title: Open Sea wing
hierarchical_section_title: Monterey Bay Aquarium / Aquarium exhibits / Open Sea wing
caption_attribution_description: English: Interior shot of Monterey Bay Aquarium
context_page_description: Monterey Bay Aquarium is a nonprofit public aquarium in Monterey, California. Known for its regional focus on the marine habitats of Monterey Bay, it was the first to exhibit a living kelp forest when it opened in October 1984. Its biologists have pioneered the animal husbandry of jellyfish and it was the first to successfully care for and display a great white shark. The organization's research and conservation efforts also focus on sea otters, various birds, and tunas. Seafood Watch, a sustainable seafood advisory list published by the aquarium beginning in 1999, has influenced the discussion surrounding sustainable seafood.
  Early proposals to build a public aquarium in Monterey County were not successful until a group of four marine biologists affiliated with Stanford University revisited the concept in the late-1970s. Monterey Bay Aquarium was built at the site of a defunct sardine cannery and has been recognized for its architectural achievements by the American Institute of Architects. Along with its architecture, the aquarium has won numerous awards for its exhibition of marine life, ocean conservation efforts, and educational programs.
context_section_description: In 1996, Monterey Bay Aquarium opened a second wing of aquatic exhibits, focusing on the pelagic habitats found 60 miles (97 km) offshore in Monterey Bay. Costing US$57 million and taking seven years to develop, the wing almost doubled the aquarium's public exhibit space. It consists of three separate galleries: various jellyfish and other plankton found in the bay; a pelagic, large community exhibit; and "ocean travelers", which features tufted puffins and sea turtles. When the exhibition opened, the San Francisco Chronicle reported the aquarium had the most jellyfish on exhibit in the world. In 1997, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums awarded the wing its Exhibit Award.
  Holding 1.2 million US gallons (4,500,000 L), the Open Sea community exhibit is the aquarium's largest tank. Made of fiberglass-reinforced plastic, it is 80 feet (24 m) long and 35 feet (11 m) deep. Its largest viewing window—at 54 feet (16 m) long and 14.5 feet (4.4 m) tall—was reportedly the largest aquarium window in the world when it was installed in 1996. To discourage animals from swimming into the window in the absence of visitors and injuring or killing themselves (as a 239-pound [108 kg] Pacific bluefin tuna did in 2007), an air hose underneath the window generates a "bubble wall" in front of it throughout the night. In 2011, species reported to be in the exhibit included green sea turtles, sardines, pelagic stingrays, scalloped hammerhead sharks, sandbar sharks, mahi-mahi, mackerel, bluefin and yellowfin tunas, and ocean sunfishes. Historically, the exhibit also included blue sharks, soupfin sharks, and California barracuda. Six great white sharks were displayed in the Open Sea exhibit between 2004 and 2011, an effort contested by some but generally described as having a positive scientific and educational impact. Prior to the display of the first white shark for six months before its release, the longest length of time that a white shark survived in an aquarium was 16 days.
  A 10-month, US$19 million renovation of the wing concluded in July 2011 to refurbish the community exhibit. Turbulent swimming patterns of 300-pound (140 kg) tunas were dismantling the exhibit's structural glass tiles, which the sea turtles were subsequently eating, so the exhibit was drained after all 10,000 animals were caught. Supplemental exhibits were added as part of this renovation featuring artwork that highlights current issues in ocean conservation, including overfishing and plastic pollution.
caption: The million-gallon Open Sea community exhibit contains a school of Pacific sardines that, in 2011, numbered 14,000 individuals.[17]
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