Come Visit the New Farallones Sanctuary Exhibit

Farallones tank. Photo: GFNMS

By Mary Jane Schramm

On September 29, with the grand reopening of the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park, the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and the Academy premiered a major installation – The California Rocky Coast.

With fascinating ocean creatures and dynamic, interactive exhibits, it appeals to all generations. Part of the “Water is Life” exhibit, it brings to life the rich and colorful living world beneath the waves.

The most visually compelling element is the multi-story tank replicating the diverse habitats and filled with the creatures of the Farallones Marine Sanctuary and the great oceanic river that is the California Current Ecosystem.

Visitors beginning at the top level gallery walkway experience the first of several multi-sensory elements. The air is redolent of sea spray. Waves lap at a small sandy beach and a tidal mechanism creates pounding surf as saltwater surges against a rocky shore, exposing marine animals such as sea stars and urchins adapted to chilling waters, then alternately exposing them to drying air and sun. Below the shimmering surface leopard and smoothhound sharks glide, seeking whatever prey is on offer.

On the lower level, through a looped film by award-winning photographer Bob Talbot, visitors can celebrate the region’s great whales, dolphins, seals, and sharks. The lower level’s 18 feet high window to the underwater world reveals monkeyface prickleback eels, sharks, anemones, rockfish, herring, sardines and urchins.

Adjacent tanks feature giant sea bass and the elusive giant Pacific octopus. Just beyond the main tank lies the Discovery Tidepool, staffed by docents who guide visitors through up-close, tactile encounters with a variety of nearshore creatures. Interactive “Dive Stations” invite the visitor to a deeper understanding of the relationships and mechanisms that underlie such marine biodiversity.

The California Rocky Coast is just one part of a growing partnership between the Sanctuary and the Academy. Another is a specially trained cadre of volunteer docents for the Tidepool Discovery Station at Duxbury Reef. The Academy was also co-sponsor with the Farallones Sanctuary for the First Biennial Ocean Climate Summit in San Francisco in April 2008.

The Academy itself is a classic example of evolution: from its beginnings in 1853, it has been a leader in promoting conservation through scientific research and education. Now, with its brilliant Platinum redesign, the California Academy of Sciences is one of the ten largest natural history museums in the world.

It is our hope and our vision that the California Rocky Coast installation will inspire people to learn more about the truly remarkable part of our water planet, and that it will motivate visitors to greater activism to preserve these resources.

Please join us in celebrating the new California Rocky Coast exhibit. Visit it. Experience it. Savor it.

 

All photos: GFNMS