Once you have seen everything you wish to on the first and second floor of the eastern wing, continue on to the western wing. In order to get here from the eastern wing on the second floor, you will need to cross a long bridge. If you are instead on the first floor, traversing a long hallway and passing the food court and auditorium will get you there. After going up an escalator, you will enter the “The Open Sea” exhibit. Walking into the first room you will be engulfed in blue light and serene ocean side music. The top of the room has a complete 360 degree toroid tank that contains 3600 anchovies swimming together in a school. The donut shaped toroid tank creates an endless current for the anchovies to swim against in a continuous circle around the top of the room.
Toroid tank. Image taken by me.
Walking into the next room, you will see another toroid tank on the right. This one is different compared to the one in the previous room because you only see one pane of glass. This creates an illusion where it seems like the anchovies are never-ending and continuously swimming from right to left across the glass display. This tank wraps back around behind the wall where the public cannot see, allowing this allusion to persist. I liked this part of the aquarium because it did not have as many interactive displays, but still contained the excitement and awe that caught the attention of aquarium guests, proving the point that up to date interactive technology is not the only way to entice an audience. Walking further into the exhibit you will encounter many tanks full of different species of Jellyfish. After you continue past the Jellyfish area on the second floor of the “Deep Sea” wing, you will encounter the largest tank in the aquarium in the Open Sea galleries. This tank features one of the world’s largest single-paned windows holding a whopping 1,200,000 gallons of water. The fish in this display are the largest by far and are as large as 8 feet long. In addition to large fish (such as different types of tuna), you will also see two sea tortoises, and a few hammerhead sharks. Walking through the Open Sea galleries and down the stairs to the first floor you will reach another jellyfish exhibit and the seahorse exhibit.