Virtual Guidebook to Monterey, Big Sur and the Central Coast
Monterey Bay Aquarium
Monterey California

In 1984 the old Hovden Cannery at the west end of Cannery Row was renovated and expanded to become the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This world-class institution has about 1.8 million visitors a year. Its mission is "to inspire consrvation of the oceans".

The aquarium features several huge tanks made of acrylic up to 13 inches thick, flushed with 2000 gallons a minute of cold seawater from Monterey Bay. The aquarium was featured prominently, though anonymously, in the movie Star Trek IV, where Spock swam with humpback whales George and Gracie.