Monterey Bay Aquarium – Monterey, California

Sea Life From A Different Angle

Monterey Bay Aquarium – Monterey, California

Visited: 2026

When we stayed on California’s central coast, there was one place Tracy and I really wanted to visit since neither one of us had ever been there. We convinced Kim and Mary to join us and it was on to the Monterey Bay Aquarium!

The aquarium opened in 1984 on Cannery Row in Monterey. Most of you know of this acclaimed aquarium for its dazzling array of sea life like otters, penguins (although they were on holiday when we visited) and sharks, while I mostly remember it from the blockbuster movie, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, where Captain Kirk, Spock and crew travel back in time in search of humpback whales. The movie was partially filmed at this location. OK, enough of my Star Trek fanaticism.

We spent more than two hours exploring the aquarium and probably would have stayed longer except we were hungry, and we had dinner reservations up the coast in Capitola. Tracy, who thanks to Sister Audrey (a nun, not her sibling) in the second grade (long story) and the movie, Jaws, refuses to swim in the ocean, pointed out all the “creatures that lurk” in the water and now I might have to have to rethink that whole swimming in the ocean thing, too. Wait, I haven’t swam in the ocean for decades.

When we were in Hawaii earlier this year (I’ll get to that post eventually), a friend asked Tracy if she had at least dipped a toe in the water, and she replied, “Only in the shower.” Remind me not to show her Psycho.

One of the first guests we encountered at the Aquarium was a Giant Pacific Octopus. This cool creature is a master of disguise because it can blend in with the rocks. But once you see that sucker’s suckers (Pacific octopuses have more than 2,000 of them), it’s hard to miss. When the octopus is stretched from tip to tip, the arms measure seven feet to 13 feet. I nicknamed it Wemby. I must say I have a soft spot for the very intelligent octopus, so it did octopi my heart while I was there.

We went Into The Deep exhibition, featuring what it calls the world’s “most diverse display of deep water corals.” The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute collects corals from up to a half-mile deep. The colors are astounding with creatures like the “glowing Bubblegum coral, deep-sea cauliflower coral, and the beautiful, candy-colored deep-sea carnation coral.” No, I don’t know which is which.

The colors were so vibrant, and the formations so beautiful.

The Deep Reef exhibit is 90 feet long and holds 350,000 gallons of water, plenty of room for all the things Tracy is afraid of … leopard sharks, gigantic sea bass weighing more than 500 pounds, wolf-eels and lots of other slimy stuff that keeps Tracy awake at night.. Scram, it’s a leopard shark!

I believe these are Pacific sand dollars. We read they have tube feet and fuzzy spines, and tiptoe across the sand.

The Aquarium is well-known for its sea otter rescue and rehabilitation program. There were two otters swimming around the tank while we were there. I always thought otters were small, but these guys are bigger than our corgi and fast, swimming straight at you for an up close through the glass. They even have names, Willow, Suri and Opal, who were “deemed non-releasable” but are living the good life in the surrogate program at the Aquarium.

MaiTaiTom Fun Fact: In 2025, Taylor Swift wore a vintage Monterey Bay Aquarium Sea Otter shirt in The Life of a Showgirl Release Party movie which caused a massive fan demand for the shirt. The Aquarium tracked down the shirt and reissued it resulting in a fundraiser of over $2.3 million in two days for the Sea Otter Program. (Photo from Monterey Bay Aquarium website)

The aquarium also functions as a “safe haven for injured birds and abandoned chicks” from wildlife rescue centers around the country. In the event a bird is unable to be released back into the wild, they stay at the Aquarium and with no predators and plenty of food they live longer than they would in the wild.

What is the difference between an anchovy and a sardine? Hard to tell given how fast they were swirling by in this tank, but according to the accompanying signage, “an anchovy’s tail opens and closes like scissors,” whereas “a sardine’s tail swishes side to side.” I hope that’s a question on Jeopardy one day!

All I know is, they were packed in like a can of, well, you know what.

One of the most colorful areas of the Aquarium were the jellyfish tanks.

This Egg-Yolk jelly was floating over easy.

Watch out for that purple-striped jelly as it has a painful sting. And the sea nettle? They “fire thousands of tiny stinging cells.” This whole “not going in the ocean thing” is starting to make sense now.

The Moon Jelly is named for its translucent, moon-like bell shape. Another fun fact from the aquarium website, “Although they didn’t get to the moon, nearly 2,500 moon jelly polyps and ephyrae—two early stages in the jelly life cycle—went into orbit aboard the space shuttle Columbia in May 1991. They were part of a study on the effects of weightlessness on the development of internal organs in juvenile jellies.”  

Garibaldi, the neon orange fish cruising in the Kelp Forest (one of the world’s tallest aquarium exhibits at 28 feet tall), is the official marine state fish of the State of California.

A Bat Ray (apparently having just left his Bat Cave) was swimming in this tank and I got the opportunity to pet him. However, remember that “Bat rays and other types of rays often rest, semi-buried, in the sand. Beachgoers can reduce the risk of stepping on a ray and getting barbed by doing the sting ray shuffle … Shuffle your feet in the sand when you walk instead of picking your feet up to take steps.” At my age, shuffling is what I do anyway, so I think I’m safe. 

There is also café/restaurant on the premises. The desserts sure looked delicious.  

There’s a lot more to see (or is it sea?) at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and if you can’t make it here, the Aquarium website is full of cool and interesting information in addition to live cams for the sharks, the otters and the kelp forest.

Monterey Bay Aquarium
886 Cannery Row
Monterey, CA 93940
831.648-4800
10 am – 5 pm (Sat/Sun opens at 9 am)
Adults (ages 18-69) $65
Seniors (over 70) $50
Youth (ages 5 – 17) $50
Website