User:Rhinopias/sandbox/Monterey Bay Aquarium

Monterey Bay Aquarium
Main entrance, from above Cannery Row
36.618253°N 121.901481°W / 36.618253; -121.901481
Date opened	October 20, 1984
Location	Cannery Row, Monterey, California, United States
Floor space	322,000 square feet (29,900 square meters)
No. of animals	35,000
No. of species	more than 550
Volume of largest tank	1.2 million U.S. gallons (4.5 million liters)
Total volume of tanks	2.3 million U.S. gallons (8.7 million liters)
Annual visitors	more than 2 million (2014) 1.8 million (average)
Memberships	Association of Zoos and Aquariums
Major exhibits	Kelp Forest, Sea Otters, Jellies, Open Sea
Website	montereybayaquarium.org

The Monterey Bay Aquarium is a nationally accredited, nonprofit public aquarium located in Monterey, California. The aquarium is known for its regional focus on the Monterey Bay and its exhibition of marine life communities rather than individual species, an ecological approach that was inspired by the work of marine biologist Ed Ricketts. The Monterey Bay Aquarium was the first institution to exhibit a living kelp forest and its biologists have pioneered the husbandry of jellies. As of 2016, it remains the only institution to have successfully exhibited a great white shark for more than 16 days.

One of the largest public aquariums in North America, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has an average annual attendance of 1.8 million visitors and, as of 2016, over 50 million people have visited the aquarium since it opened in 1984. The aquarium has been called a "definite leader" by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, having been the subject of multiple PBS Nature documentaries and having won numerous awards throughout its history for its exhibition of marine life, ocean conservation efforts, educational programs, and architecture.

The aquarium has also been granted multiple awards by the media and the travel industry; Parents magazine named the aquarium as the best public aquarium and third overall best United States animal attraction in 2015, and TripAdvisor ranked the aquarium as the number one public aquarium in the world in 2014. In a July 2013 article detailing the Monterey Bay area, Sunset magazine called the Monterey Bay Aquarium the “best in the world.”

History of the aquarium

Three separate proposals for aquariums in Monterey County occurred in 1914, 1925, and 1944, but financial backing and public support for the ideas were not sufficient. In the late 1970s, four marine biologists affiliated with San Jose State University and Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station discussed the concept of opening what would become the Monterey Bay Aquarium on the 3.3-acre (1.3 ha) site of the former Hovden Cannery, the last sardine cannery to close on Cannery Row.

David Packard—co-founder of Hewlett-Packard—and his wife, Lucile, commissioned a feasibility study for the potential aquarium as his daughter was one of the four collaborating biologists. The proposed aquarium was predicted to attract 350,000 paying visitors annually, so David and Lucile Packard donated US$7 million for the construction of the building. After seven years of construction and US$47 million more from David and Lucile Packard, totaling US$54 million, the aquarium opened on October 20, 1984. About 2.4 million visitors attended the aquarium within its first year.

The aquarium has undergone "several expansions, renovations, and systems upgrades" since it opened in 1984. EHDD, the architectural firm that designed the original facility and its subsequent renovations, was awarded an Institute Honor Award from the American Institute of Architects in 1988 for the original design of the aquarium. In 2016, the Monterey Bay Aquarium was awarded the Institute's Twenty-five Year Award and was detailed by the jury as "a benchmark and role model for aquariums everywhere."

The aquarium was designed to be half over land and half over the Monterey Bay and includes broad windows that, according to the Twenty-Five Year Award jury, help "[blur] the line between museum and natural habitat."

Marine life exhibits

The 320,000-US-gallon (1,200,000 L) Kelp Forest exhibit from the ground level

Filtered water from the Monterey Bay is pumped into the Kelp Forest exhibit and the aquarium’s other exhibits at 2,000 US gallons (7,600 L) per minute. This automated seawater system is controlled electronically via more than 10,000 data points. Throughout the aquarium’s history, its live exhibits have received numerous awards from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium was not constructed to house cetaceans and, as of 2014, takes no official position on the controversy of captive killer whales or other whales and dolphins. The aquarium utilizes the 27 species of marine mammals that live in or travel through the Monterey Bay as one of its exhibits, offering glimpses of wild animals from oceanview decks.

Kelp Forest

At 28 feet (8.5 m) tall and 65 feet (20 m) long, the Kelp Forest exhibit is the centerpiece of the original aquarium's Ocean Edge galleries. It is regarded as the first successful attempt to maintain a living kelp forest in an aquarium setting, containing giant kelp alongside species of fish indigenous to the Monterey Bay such as rockfish and leopard sharks. The exhibit's success at sustaining giant kelp is partly attributed to the surge machine that was designed and constructed by David Packard, allowing the kelp in the exhibit to grow an average of 4 inches (10 cm) per day.

Open Sea wing

In 1992, the aquarium received the Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Edward H. Bean Award for their purple-striped jelly (Chrysaora colorata) propagation program

The aquarium’s Open Sea wing opened in 1996 at a cost of US$57 million. The wing consists of three separate galleries: various jellies and other plankton found in Monterey Bay, an open sea community exhibit, and “ocean travelers,” featuring tufted puffins and sea turtles. In 1997, the Association of Zoos and Aquariums awarded the Monterey Bay Aquarium with its Exhibit Award for the Open Sea wing, then called "The Outer Bay."

The largest exhibit in the Open Sea wing, containing a school of Pacific sardines that once—in 2011—numbered 14,000 individuals

Holding 1.2 million US gallons (4,500,000 L), the wing's Open Sea exhibit is the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s largest tank. Made out of fiberglass-reinforced plastic, it is 80 feet (24 m) long and 35 feet (11 m) deep. While the Open Sea exhibit contains hammerhead sharks, sandbar sharks, pelagic stingrays, Pacific mackerel, and green sea turtles, it is known for housing species unique to North American public aquariums such as bluefin and yellowfin tuna, schools of Pacific sardine, and the ocean sunfish. Six great white sharks were displayed in the Open Sea exhibit between 2004–2011 with the second shark—exhibited in 2006—beating the previous captive great white shark world record of 16 days by 182 days, totaling 198 days.

A 10-month, US$19 million renovation of the wing concluded in July 2011 to refurbish the Open Sea exhibit, as the 300-pound (140 kg) tunas were dismantling structural glass tiles with their turbulent swimming patterns. Additional exhibits opened as part of this renovation featuring artwork that highlights current issues in marine conservation, including overfishing and plastic pollution.

Research and conservation

As a result of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's first eight years of operation, the aquarium created momentum for the establishment of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary in 1992, one of the largest marine protected areas in the United States. In 2015, the aquarium was a founding member of the Aquarium Conservation Partnership—a collaboration between 17 public aquariums in the United States to further ocean conservation efforts. The partnership appealed to United States President Barack Obama to expand the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument, which became the largest protected area in the world in August 2016. In September 2016, the Aquarium Conservation Partnership spoke out in favor of increasing restrictions on the international trade of sharks and stingrays, including a ban on shark fin trade.

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums has awarded the Monterey Bay Aquarium two Edward H. Bean Awards for the captive propagation of animals—including one for purple-striped jellies—and a North American Conservation Award for the aquarium’s Sea Otter Research and Conservation Program. Aquarium researchers have also authored many scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals of various disciplines involving sea otters, great white sharks, and tunas.

Marine life

Rehabilitated sea otters on exhibit at the aquarium

The Monterey Bay Aquarium's Sea Otter Research and Conservation program began in 1984 to research wild sea otters and rehabilitate stranded animals. As of 2014, nearly 650 ill or injured sea otters have been rehabilitated and either released back into the wild or exhibited at other accredited aquariums in North America. Beginning in 2001, rehabilitated sea otters on exhibit at the aquarium—deemed non-releasable by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service—act as surrogate mothers for sea otter pups in the rehabilitation program. On October 16, 2013, PBS Nature aired a documentary about the Monterey Bay Aquarium's work with sea otters titled "Saving Otter 501."

Shorebirds such as the snowy plover are also rehabilitated and released; since 2000, the aquarium has released dozens. Additionally, the aquarium's endangered African penguins are part of an Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan, which identifies genetically important birds and allows specific breeding activity to occur. Five chicks have hatched in the aquarium's penguin colony since 2011 and some of those have been sent to other accredited institutions. As of 2014, the aquarium also offers a public presentation with its rehabilitated—but non-releasable—Laysan albatross that has a wingspan of 6 feet (1.8 m). The daily public program began in June 2007 to educate aquarium visitors of the dangers that ocean plastic pollution causes for animals, especially the 21 species of albatrosses.

A captive great white shark photographed in the aquarium's Open Sea exhibit in 2006

Six great white sharks were exhibited in the aquarium's Open Sea exhibit between 2004 and 2011. As of 2016, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is the only public aquarium in the world to successfully exhibit a white shark for more than 16 days. The first captive white shark was on exhibit in 2004 for more than six months, and seen by one million visitors. Another million visitors saw the second and third white sharks while on display. The aquarium's success at exhibiting white sharks has been attributed to their use of an open-water pen (or "sea pen") to acclimate the sharks to captivity while still in the ocean, and also a 3,000-US-gallon (11,000 L) portable tank utilized to transport the fish. Aquarium staff members were also tagging and tracking wild white sharks during this program, including at least 66 individuals from 2002 to 2006. Visitors to a website were once able to follow the migrations of white sharks that were tagged with GPS trackers, including those released from the aquarium. As of July 2016, the aquarium's efforts to display captive white sharks ended in 2011 due to the program's high resource intensity. Captive white sharks also incurred injuries and injured other animals in the exhibit after becoming increasingly aggressive. Although no longer on exhibit for the public, aquarium scientists continue to conduct research on white sharks in the wild. In collaboration with the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in June 2016, aquarium scientists created cameras attached to harmless dorsal fin tags in an attempt to study the behavior of white sharks during their gathering known as the White Shark Café.

An interactive exhibit teaches visitors about the conservation of tunas

Bluefin and yellowfin tuna have been historically displayed in the aquarium's Open Sea exhibit, some reaching more than 300 pounds (140 kg). In 2010, three dozen fish of the two species were on exhibit. Prior to the opening of the Open Sea exhibit in 1996, the aquarium established the Tuna Research and Conservation Center in 1994 in partnership with Stanford University's Hopkins Marine Station. Aquarium researchers and Barbara Block—professor of marine sciences at Stanford University—tag wild Pacific bluefin tunas to study predator-prey relationships, and also investigate tuna endothermy with captive tunas at the center. To improve global collaboration of bluefin tuna management, the Monterey Bay Aquarium and Stanford University hosted the Bluefin Futures Symposium in January 2016 in Monterey, California. Over 200 scientists, fisheries managers, and policy makers gathered to discuss solutions to the "catastrophic decline" of bluefin tunas in the Northern Pacific Ocean.

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External links

• example.com