Aquarium of the Pacific, Public aquarium in Long Beach, United States.
The Aquarium of the Pacific is a public aquarium on a 6-acre (24,000 m2) site on Rainbow Harbor in Long Beach, California, across the water from the Long Beach Convention Center, Shoreline Village and the Queen Mary. It opened on June 20, 1998, and holds over 12,000 animals in exhibits ranging from 5,000 to 350,000 US gallons. Three permanent galleries cover the Southern California/Baja region, the Northern Pacific and the Tropical Pacific; the Southern California/Baja Gallery begins with the three-story, 142,000-gallon Honda Blue Cavern tank of Catalina Island animals and includes a 211,000-gallon Seal and Sea Lion Habitat.
The Aquarium of the Pacific opened on June 20, 1998, as the Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, later shortened to its present name. It was built on a 6-acre (24,000 m2) site at Rainbow Harbor, across the water from the Long Beach Convention Center, Shoreline Village and the Queen Mary. It is a 501(c)(3) non-profit accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums through March 2031. In 2018 it recorded 1.7 million visitors.
The aquarium's name appears in several languages, including a Navajo rendering, Tábąąh Hóneezíidi táyiʼ naaldeehii danílʼį́ bił hazʼání. Its 1,979 volunteers in 2024 outnumbered the 485 paid staff, and volunteers aged nine and older can apply through the website, which also hosts live webcams of some exhibits.
The aquarium stands on Rainbow Harbor, across the water from the Long Beach Convention Center, Shoreline Village and the Queen Mary, and has its own street, Aquarium Way. It is open every day from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. The site covers 6 acres (24,000 m2), so allow time to cross between the three galleries.
The largest single tank is the 350,000-US-gallon (1,300,000 L) Honda Blue Cavern, a three-story exhibit in the Southern California/Baja Gallery built around animals from the waters near Catalina Island. The 211,000-US-gallon (800,000 L) Seal and Sea Lion Habitat sits in the same gallery, and the Northern Pacific Gallery holds a giant Pacific octopus tank and a diving birds exhibit with puffins and auklets.
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