The Aquarium’s new summer exhibition focusing on coral reefs will open to the public on May 22, 2020. Coral Reefs: Nature’s Underwater Cities will showcase the beauty and diversity of coral reefs and their animal residents in the Aquarium’s newly reimagined Tropical Pacific Gallery. Visitors will be able to learn more about coral reefs, the threats they face, and what you can do to help save them.
The Aquarium will also debut a new show in its Honda Pacific Visions Theater giving visitors the opportunity to experience a virtual dive and see coral reefs up close. This new original show will play daily in Pacific Visions.
The summer exhibits will also feature new animals, like a green sea turtle, flashlight fish, and many species of tropical fish. Visitors will also have the chance to meet a red-footed booby, the only one of these seabirds that lives at a zoo or aquarium.
Coral reefs are some of the most biodiverse areas on Earth. They are home to a dense network of ocean animals, just like our cities. Each species plays an important role in the health of the reef, and climate change threatens this intricate system of life.
At the Aquarium this summer, explore coral lagoons and learn how they function as animal nurseries. Find out how corals rely on algae living in their tissues for food. Meet the powerful parrotfish, which eats coral and algae by scraping and chomping with their teeth. Find out how humans benefit from coral reefs as economic drivers, important sources of food and medicines, and coastal protectors. See corals and other reef residents that possess the fascinating qualities of bioluminescence and fluorescence. And finally, learn how scientists, environmental stewards, and Aquarium staff members around the world are working to restore coral reefs.