Sea Otter haven otherwise known as the Monterey Bay Aquarium, is a world-class non-profit organization dedicated to marine life preservation, representation, and rehabilitation. With direct access to the Pacific Ocean, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is an ideal location to showcase marine ecosystems in large exhibition galleries, while also having the opportunity to work with and care for the local marine life within Monterey Bay. Opened in 1984, the aquarium has hosted programs for over 2.5 million students combined with 2 million tourist visits per year to the location. Through the organization’s 3 main goals to inspire, take action, and educate, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has been able to make immense progress in their main goal to, “to inspire conservation of the ocean” (https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/about-us).
Inspire
Developing inspiration, love, and passion for the ocean is made so much easier through actual experience. The Monterey Bay Aquarium consistently develops and showcases several real exhibit-habitats that allow you to immerse yourself in the world of the blue, and will ultimately leave you feeling inspired about the ocean. Some of the most popular galleries include rooms such as the Open Sea (pictured above), which is a 2-level exhibit entailing a 90ft glass window looking onto a 1.2 million gallon tank full of sea life ranging from the purple-striped jellies, pacific sardines, green turtles, and even hammerhead sharks. This is the perfect room to feel as if you are actually in the open sea with these marine species, and it is an incredible way to gain perspective of the lives experienced by these creatures in the ocean. Another popular gallery with this same element of an immersive experience is the Sea Otter exhibit, which is also a 2-level gallery directly overlooking a habitat made specifically for rehabilitating sea otters. You have the opportunities to watch the otters being fed, see them swimming, and even more cute is when they are interacting with one another (especially mom/pup- see below).
These are only 2 examples as there are currently 10 exhibits available to immerse yourself in, the others ranging from: a sea deck, giant octopuses, the kelp-forest, penguin splash-zones, the deep-sea, and so much more. Experience the ocean for what it is, right where it is on the Pacific Ocean at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, where these exhibits will not only educate you about marine ecosystems, but also leave you feeling inspired with the profound experiences they provide surrounding the ocean and nature.
Take Action
The Monterey Bay Aquarium does so much more beyond providing beautiful sea galleries to the public. The organization is constantly progressing their work and studies forward with expert marine scientists who facilitate the rehabilitation/rebuilding of sea otter and other marine life populations, innovating the fishing/aquaculture industries with new technologies/examinations, and protecting the California Coastline with policy experts who are responsible for pushing the government to acknowledge climate change and plastic pollution issues. Not only are these experts constantly pushing progress in an uphill direction behind the scenes, but the marketing teams of the aquarium are also using the brand’s digital platforms as a way of reaching global audiences about the topic of marine life and conservation as a whole. For example, the https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/act-for-the-ocean page represents several blog sections that showcase a plethora of action-oriented articles that will prompt readers to become aware of and/or act on the issues discussed in these posts. The Monterey Bay Aquarium Instagram page is at just under 500k followers making their global reach easier to achieve, and their youtube is at around 330k with gallery livestreams of the exhibits.
https://www.instagram.com/montereybayaquarium/?hl=en
With the representation of call-to-action content, the aquarium is able to prompt these audiences to part-take in the marine conservation journey with supported follow up links such as Two-Trees Pencil where one pencil bought by a customer provides a seed after use where you can plant your own tree, and also have one planted by the Natural Capital Partners (protects fish habitats). The aquarium also leaves the option for anyone to donate at the bottom of their website, where notable donations are listed on the physical donor wall at the location. So there are endless ways to take action, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium provides the support for it all.
Educate
The Monterey Bay Aquarium values the importance of the growing youth, and the influence they can have on the future of marine conservation efforts. That is why this non-profit has another main agenda to educate the growing generations about the ocean as a whole, to get them thinking about the deep blue and how they can become involved in the efforts to protect it as they grow with it through time. Establishing these early mindsets for the youth will make them aware of the efforts being made in marine conservation now, and may develop their voices so they can help the cause later. Over 2.5 million students have visited the aquarium for free, opportunities provided by the aquarium in this agenda to educate the youth through their programs. There are several different programs to become involved in, even if you can’t make it to the in-person location. For example the aquarium offers educators learning at home/online courses, and can provide the planning details for future field trip excursions. The Monterey Bay Aquarium also offers an educator development program, and teen program where educators can discover marine related classroom content, and students can apply for in-person opportunities for summer roles in-person at the location.
These opportunities aren’t limited to the youth, as the Monterey Bay Aquarium also directly partners with CSUMB and their students. As I was a CSUMB student and open-water diver, from what I remember if you do a certain amount of diving requirements within the CSUMB you can actually get the chance to be the person diving in the kelp forest at the actual aquarium. (See below).
Through inspiration, action, and education the Monterey Bay Aquarium has continued to be an incredible influence to the positive progress of marine life conservation efforts. With exhibit galleries for immersive ocean experiences, experts working round-the-clock for change, and digital platforms for story representation of ocean related topics, this non-profit has all the necessary resources and capabilities to continue developing strategies and routines that will further the aquariums main intent to preserve and flourish marine ecosystems. Now knowing all the opportunities available in the aquarium, go experience it for yourself and become inspired about how you and the Monterey Bay Aquarium can work together with an intent to improve overall marine conservation efforts and representation.
Photos from:
https://www.seemonterey.com/listings/monterey-bay-aquarium/2275/
https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/newsroom/image-galleries/open-sea
https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/visit/exhibits/sea-otters
https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/about-us