Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
 
 
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Exploration Center

 
  Exploration Center

The award-winning Exploration Center challenges visitors to engage all five senses and use scientists’ tools as you learn to explore the habitats of the nearby Cabrillo Coastal Park. Examine your role in the watershed and get a worm’s eye view in the mud. Friendly staff and volunteers are on hand to answer your questions and guide you experiences.
 
Coastal Habitats – Utilizing maps, photos and tactile panels, the Coastal Habitats area provides visitors with an overview of the Exploration Center as well as the Cabrillo Beach Coastal Park habitats.
 
Watershed – A hands-on look at the Los Angeles watershed flow into marshes and the ocean. Visitors learn about the impact on the environment through the choices we make, observe animals found along the watershed and how we can reduce the flow of pollution to the sea.
 
“Crawl In” Aquarium – Crawl into a large aquarium and be surrounded by teeming ocean life such as flatfish, sting rays, octopuses and other creatures – and never get wet!
 
Mud Walkthrough – Visitors get a “worm’s eye view of the mud,” including simulated interaction with organisms found in the mud, as they move through a squishy, tactile tunnel. External exhibits provide insight into food chains and how organisms survive in mud.
 


Naturalists Corner
– A naturalist’s/field researcher’s lab is open for visitors to study the organisms and habitats of Cabrillo Beach Coastal Park and beyond. Examine and identify animals using microscopes and investigate published and on-line information on different marine topics.
 
Discovery Center – Create artwork (food chain mobile, finger puppets, fish printing, biological sketching, and more) to take home, solve a puzzle or join a group lesson that illustrates a marine science concept. Browse through books, explore discovery boxes that contain a variety of specimens and activities on subjects such as sharks, food webs, pollution and animal adaptation.
 
   
 
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