Visit an octopus’s den, walk beneath crashing waves, stroll amid shorebirds and gliding bat rays in Monterey Bay Aquarium’s newly revitalized galleries, The Ocean’s Edge: Coastal Habitats of Monterey Bay.

Protecting the Ocean and Our Future
Ocean’s Edge is a dramatic transformation of the aquarium’s original galleries that will reintroduce visitors to the coastal habitats of California’s central coast. While favorite exhibits remain, new displays and experiences incorporate hands-on approaches and important conservation themes. The changes reflect 20 years of experience in developing innovative and effective marine life exhibits - the same ones that earned the aquarium recognition as the best in the nation in the inaugural Zagat Survey® U.S. Family Travel Guide.

Signature exhibits, like the three-story living Kelp Forest, are the gateway to the new galleries, which opened mid-2005. High-definition video introduces each living habitat area in Ocean’s Edge. Every gallery celebrates not just marine life but the human connection with nature and the solutions people are finding to preserve the marine environment. Throughout Ocean’s Edge, individuals will discover ways to get personally involved in protecting the oceans for the future.

In addition to hundreds of living species already on exhibit, new animals featured in Ocean’s Edge include the sheep crab, which has pincers on all eight legs and both claw-arms; the small and ubiquitous sand crab, which lives where water and sand meet and is an important source of food for fishes and birds; and the skeleton shrimp, a tiny and fascinating amphipod that bows and sways in the water as it gathers food with its huge flat claws.

Ocean’s Edge highlights include a new and larger gallery devoted to the giant octopus, an amazing animal that is nothing like its menacing legend. It is shy and gentle, highly intelligent, and has a full repertoire of abilities and behaviors. These fascinating animals are among the most popular at the aquarium. An interactive video tells fascinating stories about the octopus, including how it changes its color, pattern, shape or texture as self-defense or to match its mood. Other stories explore octopus biology and the advanced intelligence of these mysterious animals.

Natural Habitats
Take a nature walk and see a different perspective of the aquarium’s shorebirds and bat rays in their newly revitalized Coastal Wetland to Sandy Shore Gallery. Here emphasis is placed on the links between the habitats and the many ways people connect with these natural systems. An “interpreter” greets visitors as they approach the nature center and prepares them for the walk through this ever-popular aviary exhibit. View coastal wetland habitat pools with shorebirds, ducks, rays and fishes. Changes also include improved wheelchair access.

Look underwater at bat rays through new periscopes and a window as they swim from a new pool inside the aviary (where people contact is not allowed) to the other half, where guests are invited to gently touch the bat rays as they swim by.

The updated Rocky Shore Gallery debuted with a splash - literally. The focal point is a walk-through acrylic tunnel in which people can see and feel the power of waves as they crash overhead and into a series of tide pools. Children can also experience them from inside a bubble window and then take a closer look at marine life along the rugged shore.