With the debut of its award-winning Outer Bay galleries, it became the first aquarium in the world to create open ocean exhibits on a grand scale. Giant ocean sunfish, sharks, tunas and turtles roam the million-gallon Outer Bay exhibit, visible through the largest window on Earth. It is the dramatic centerpiece of the Outer Bay galleries. In addition to that Karen took us to two other great galleries. The first was entitled "Mysteries of the Deep" which explores deep sea habitats as it takes visitors on a tour of the Monterey submarine canyon. This is the largest undersea canyon on the west coast of the United States. At the head of the canyon offshore of Moss Landing, it's less than 33 feet deep. At its mouth, it's 12,730 feet deep. Within the bay, the canyon is as deep and as steep as the Grand Canyon of Arizona. Unprecedented live exhibits, videos and hands-on displays carry visitors through the three major deep sea habitats found in the bay: the canyon walls, representative of vertical rock faces in the deep sea, the mid-water, a dark ocean realm with no solid surface, found between sunlit surfaces waters and the bottom, and the canyon floor, representative of the deep sea floor. The live exhibits feature between 40 and 60 species of animals - most of them never before seen in an aquarium. Visitors will see mushroom corals, predatory tunicates, sea whips, spider crabs, filetail catsharks, and ratfish along with many more not mentioned. In addition to one of a kind live exhibits and other elements in the deep sea galleries, the aquarium debuts an expanded daily program of live video broadcasts from deep sea robot research subs that are exploring the Monterey submarine canyon. During half-hour programs presented six to eight times a day, "Exploring Monterey Canyon" lets visitors peek over the shoulders of research scientists from the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), an independent sister institution of the aquarium during actual deep sea research dives. Deep-sea ecosystems such as Monterey Bay's submarine canyon represent the single largest habitat for life on Earth: more than three quarters of the planet's total living space. Yet most of this vast realm remains a mystery. The deep sea is by far the least explored habitat in the world. The last gallery we visited was called "Splash Zone". This colorful, hands-on gallery is like a children's museum inside an aquarium. Here live animal experiences are blended with hands-on learning in new and exciting ways. Designed for families with children from infants up to around 9 years old, "Splash Zone" features nearly 60 species, from South African blackfooted penguins to leafy sea dragons. Over 30 hands-on exhibits, staff-led educational programs and specially designed play areas will engage the imaginations of the young visitors. The "Splash Zone" takes families on an interactive tour through two contrasting shoreline habitats. The Crowded Coral Reefs of tropical waters and the Rough Rocky Shore found in cool temperate regions. Our tour of the Splash Zone ended on a high note. Over a dozen blackfooted penguins from South Africa awaited us behind a huge window in a display that included a waterfall. We watched as these temperate-water penguins swam and hopped around their rough and tumbling rocky shore home, as Mark Faulkner worked through their feeding schedule with Mary Ann Wilson keeping exact records as to what was eaten by whom. Through the entire tour, Karen was a walking encyclopedia of facts and figures not to mention her insight into the trials and tribulations of operating such an elaborate and very unique enterprise. From her we learned that over 1.7 million people visit the 322,00 square-foot aquarium annually. Some 450 full and part time employees and around 900 volunteers make up the staff needed for all the different aspects that has become part of the Aquarium's daily life. Laura stopped to look at a starfish which Carol Englehorn, a 13 year veteran volunteer was preparing for one of the hands on displays. Carol described the volunteer program as a big family where there are always friends around you. Although Julie Packard still holds the reins as the Aquarium's Executive Director, the operation is now self-funding, without the assistance of government subsidies. The old movie line "If you build it they will come" has proven to be a sound financial principal here. It's a spectacle you just can't see anywhere else. I put it on my "must see" travel list for all of North America.

For more information about this adventure, check out http://www.mbayaq.org