The Aquarium of the Pacific is celebrating its 25-year anniversary with the debut of the remodeled and revamped Southern California Gallery that opened to the public on July 1.
The remodel brings new creatures to be viewed and remodeled tanks to include more living sets, like the replacement of faux kelp for the real stuff and a new 30-foot-long tank that fills the gallery’s southern wall.
The gallery will feature over 10 exhibits and more than three dozen species in total. Some of the star attractions are the California two-spot octopus, leopard and horn sharks, California scorpionfish, a moray eel, California spiny lobsters, Catalina goby, and California’s state marine fish—the Garibaldi.
Visitors will be able to take a tour through miniaturized versions of the watery habitats around Long Beach, including some of its most noticeable landmarks.
One of the tanks is named Casino Point for the area around Catalina Island Casino, a popular snorkel and scuba diving location, and another is an artificial reef modeled after the pylons of oil rigs that guests can see grow and evolve over the next few years.
The Aquarium of the Pacific is located at 100 Aquarium Way and is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. with both in-person and online special events throughout the year, which can be found on their calendar online at aquariumofpacific.org.