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Maybe it's been a while since you've been to an aquarium. Maybe it's been so long, in fact, that you're now kind of like, "meh, why would I even go to an aquarium."
We hear you, but now, hear us - there is a cool new thing at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach called the Pacific Visions wing. It's their first major expansion in 20 years -- it includes an immersive theater and a 2,800-square-foot art gallery in addition to new aquatic life - incorporating a display of the endangered Delta Smelt fish, whose numbers have declined more than 90 percent in the wild.
So if you're not excited about smelt fish, get excited about smelt fish.
A large part of Pacific Visions' focus will be on how people are affecting our sea-dwelling neighbors.
The new exhibits focuses “one the one species that is affecting all others on Earth: humans,” said @AquariumPacific president Jerry R. Schubel.
— Emily Elena Dugdale (she/her) (@eedugdale) May 16, 2019
A major theme is ocean sustainability and our impact on marine life. @LAist @KPCC pic.twitter.com/vxtTGHjm5g
Some of the displays look like laser light shows:
The new wing starts out with an exhibit called Reefs & Drifters that focuses on coral and plankton using giant colorful digital displays. @LAist @KPCC pic.twitter.com/tNZSiEoCM1
— Emily Elena Dugdale (she/her) (@eedugdale) May 16, 2019
And the theater features an immersive oceanic experience:
Next is this giant new theatre with a video presentation that’s connected to your seat - you feel vibrations as the film travels along through the ocean 🌊. Kids in here are really digging this one. @LAist @KPCC pic.twitter.com/T984eK0a4s
— Emily Elena Dugdale (she/her) (@eedugdale) May 16, 2019
The new wing opens to the public on May 24.