Aquarium facts & figures

Opening date

• October 20, 1984

Operating basis

• 501(c)(3) California not-for-profit corporation founded in 1978

Attendance

• Grand opening year (1984): 2.37 million
• Average annual attendance: approximately 2 million

Exhibit numbers and size

• Nearly 200 exhibits devoted to the diverse habitats of Monterey Bay
• Open Sea: 1.2 million gallons; 90 feet across, 52 feet front to back, 35 feet tall
• Kelp Forest: 343,000 gallons; 28 feet tall
• Monterey Bay Habitats:  312,000 gallons; more than 90 feet long
• Sea Otters: 55,000 gallons; 15 feet tall

Exhibit cost

• Ocean’s Edge galleries: $55 million when opened in October 1984; $11 million renovations opened in May 2005
• Open Sea galleries: $57 million when opened in March 1996; $19 million renovations opened July 2011

Site dimensions

• Total site: 3.3 acres and 320,000 sq. ft.
• Exhibits and other public areas: 175,000 sq. ft. (excludes decks)
• Ocean-view decks: 25,000 sq. ft.
• Behind the scenes: 120,000 sq. ft.

Animals

• Eighty percent of the featured marine life is native to California waters, with the majority from the Monterey Bay area
• More than 81,000 animals and plants representing 771 species
• This changes constantly as new species arrive through an open seawater system

Water source

• Pumps push up to 2,000 gallons of seawater per minute into the Aquarium
• Nearly one billion gallons of seawater annually flows from the bay through the Aquarium and back into the ocean
• Incoming water goes directly to the Kelp Forest exhibit first and then splits into pipes that feed other exhibits

First and only in the world

• To successfully exhibit and release great white sharks
• To reintroduce rescued southern sea otter pups to the wild using a surrogacy program
• To build a living kelp forest exhibit
• To exhibit deep-sea cephalopods (vampire squid, flapjack octopus, strawberry squid)
• To discover the lifecycle of several jellyfish species (purple striped, flower hat jellies)
• To consistently propagate comb jellies (sea gooseberries and others)
• To exhibit deep-sea ctenophore known as bloody-belly comb jelly

Only U.S. aquarium

• To exhibit bluefin and yellowfin tuna
• To care for a Laysan albatross (in human care due to wing injury)
• To exhibit ocean sunfish and pyjama squid
• To exhibit salmon snailfish

TV and film highlights

• 2024: "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon" (NBC)
• 2024 and 2022: "CBS Mornings"
• 2022: "The Kelly Clarkson Show" (NBC)
• 2019: "Today" Show (NBC)
• 2019 and 2016: "Big Little Lies" (HBO)
• 2016: "Finding Dory"
• 2015: "Big Blue Live" (BBC/PBS)
• 2013: "Saving Otter 501"
• 2011: "Oceans in Glass"
• 2008: "Seven Pounds"
• 1988: "Sphere"
• 1986: "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home"

Location and schedule

• 886 Cannery Row, Monterey, California
• Open daily, except Christmas Day

Contacts

Hours and admission
831.648.4800
Ticket information

General inquiries
831.648.4800
visitinfo@mbayaq.org

Membership Office
Hours: 9 a.m.–4 p.m.,
Mon.–Fri. (except holidays)
831.648.4880
membership@mbayaq.org

Media inquiries
831.644.1069
media@mbayaq.org