DIVE INTO THE EXPANDED HABITATS OF ‘SPLASH ZONE: OCEAN HOMES’ IN 2008

The best family exhibits at the nation’s No. 1 family aquarium are getting bigger and better than ever with the opening of the revamped and expanded “Splash Zone: Ocean Homes” galleries at the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

Starting March 17, 2008 visitors can journey through an enchanting underwater forest, stroll beneath a sunlit kelp canopy, delight in the wonders of pot-bellied seahorses and pharaoh cuttlefish, pop up next to penguins and much more. 

“Splash Zone: Ocean Homes” is a dramatic transformation of the award-winning family exhibit, which opened in April 2000 and has been drawing praise ever since for its engaging and playful atmosphere.

The expanded “Splash Zone” doubles the space where families with children can play and learn together about the ocean. The renovated galleries explore three ocean habitats – the Enchanted Kelp Forest, Coral Reef Kingdom and Rugged Rocky Shore – and combine new interactive experiences, games and live animals with visitor favorites from the original galleries.

“Splash Zone: Ocean Homes” features over 45 new and improved bilingual interactive exhibits, and many new animals, including leafy and weedy sea dragons, two relatives of seahorses and masters of camouflage; pot-bellied seahorses, one of the largest and most spectacular species of seahorses; and both splendid and spotted garden eels, whose bodies sway in the current like sea grass until the eels are frightened and retreat back into slime-lined burrows.

Children can crawl through a coral reef cave, make waves along the rocky shore and investigate creatures that live in a kelp holdfast. It’s all designed for family fun, and to build magical and lasting connections with the ocean for children of all ages.

“We wanted to create a place where families can actively explore the ocean together, race to find hidden kelp forest animals and cuddle up in a giant clam,” said Exhibit Developer Jenny Sayre Ramberg. “We hope that fun encounters with ocean life will create lasting memories and an abiding love of the ocean.”

The expanded “Splash Zone” remains home to visitor favorites like the colony of blackfooted penguins, the den of moray eels and water play areas for kids and families. But visitors will find significant changes, including new animals on exhibit, a larger and more immersive touch pool area, a crawl-through kelp holdfast and walk-through kelp forest, plus 15 new interactive exhibits where children can discover how animals eat, hide and survive in the ocean.

These are the kinds of exhibits that earned the Monterey Bay Aquarium the No. 1 ranking from Parents magazine as the best aquarium for families in the nation; and similar honors in the Zagat Survey U.S. Family Travel Guide.

“We want families to have fun exploring ocean life together,” said Ramberg. “Children who bond with the natural world at an early age learn to love it, and will be more inclined as adults to protect it.”

The second floor of the aquarium’s signature three-story living Kelp Forest exhibit is the gateway into the new “Splash Zone: Ocean Homes” galleries. Visitors entering the Enchanted Kelp Forest gallery first encounter an impressive 40-foot-long touch pool where they can encounter the many plants and animals that live in the multi-layered and sheltered kelp forest habitat, including sea stars, abalones, sea urchins, kelp crabs, snails, sponges and sea cucumbers.

Interactive experiences and exhibits teach visitors about the lives of the animals that live in this rich habitat, from the top of the sheltering kelp canopy down to the haven of the holdfast – the root-like mass that anchors giant kelp to the seafloor.

A giant kelp holdfast sculpture invites visitors to explore a 10 times life-size kelp holdfast and discover animals that call this intricate structure home.  Inside, explorers can touch the colorful ridges of oversized sea bugs, see the hairy arms of brittle stars, find a stash of hidden fish egg models and discover a living exhibit that’s home to a red octopus.

Dappled sunlight illuminates golden giant kelp blades streaming overhead where a canopy of kelp arches over visitors in a kelp tunnel exhibit – encouraging visitors to imagine themselves diving in a kelp forest. Another new live exhibit lets visitors view a kelp canopy from above and below the waters’ surface, where kelp fronds crawl with life and provide shelter to jeweled top snails, kelp crabs and well-camouflaged fishes.

The “Kelp Dive” invites families to dive into an “I Spy” game about how animals hide and survive in kelp forest habitats. Players will search a touch-sensitive mural of a richly populated kelp forest for six animals found on their “dive card.” They’ll be rewarded with a fun video clip after they find all six animals.

Interactive exhibits and experiences are integral to “Splash Zone: Ocean Homes” and can be found throughout the expanded galleries. At one new exhibit, children can race each other to grow a giant kelp plant by supplying the three essential things kelp needs to survive: sunlight, nutrients and moving water. In “Kelp Forest Mysteries” they can also use scientific tools to collect clues and uncover why a kelp forest isn’t thriving. And, in all three galleries children can stamp bookmarks to take home as souvenirs – each with a conservation message that connects their actions to the health of the ocean.

Coral encrusted walls welcome visitors into the colorful world of tropical reefs and the Coral Reef Kingdom gallery. Here, pharaoh cuttlefish and garden eels make their debut, joining such family favorites as moray eels and sea horses. Visitors will learn that the ghostly cuttlefish is not a fish at all; it’s a relative of the octopus. A realistic, life-size touch model of this highly intelligent animal demonstrates its unique way of catching food. Kids (and adults) can see and be seen as they make their way through a Coral Cave tunnel, where they’ll encounter tropical sea horses.

           The popular Coral Reef Play and Coral Babies areas encourage imaginative and interactive play for younger children, including infants and toddlers. Costumes, ride-on sea creatures, and a giant clam chair invite children to imagine themselves at home in a coral reef.

            The third habitat in “Splash Zone: Ocean Homes” is the rough and tumble environment of the Rugged Rocky Shore. Crashing waves and granite rocks
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