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The Long Beach Aquarium Got An Art Gallery and Delta Smelt Fish, Ya'll
The Aquarium of the Pacific's New Pacific Visions wing (Photo by Emily Elena Dugdale/LAist)
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.
Delta smelt fish at the Aquarium of the Pacific (Photo by Emily Elena Dugdale/LAist)
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:
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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.
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You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
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