Seymour Marine Discovery Center
Posted by: 
Touchstone
N 36° 56.961 W 122° 03.891
10S E 583262 N 4089662
The Seymour Marine Discovery Center is part of the Joseph M. Long Marine Laboratory, a research and education facility of the University of California, Santa Cruz. The laboratory is affiliated with the Institute of Marine Sciences, a university research unit. The lab serves as a base for field research in Monterey Bay and the ocean beyond. Institute of Marine Sciences faculty and researchers conduct marine field studies throughout the world.
Waymark Code: WM3YZZ
Location: California, United States
Date Posted: 06/08/2008
Views: 34
The Seymour Marine Discovery Center is not a huge aquarium like it's nearby cousin, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, but what it lacks in size, it more than makes up for in enthusiasm and diversity. The other important consideration is that a visit to the Seymour will not make nearly as large a dent in your pocket book as the MBA ($6.00 per person vs. ~$25.00 per person).
The Seymour Marine Discovery Center was opened in March 11, 2000 to house exhibits and to offer tours of the adjacent Long Marine Laboratory. Quite honestly, the doscent led tours of the world renowned Long Marine Laboratory is probably the main reason that most people come out to the Seymour Marine Discovery Center.
The exhibits in the Center are not to missed however. To quote the SMDC website:
quote:
Animals featured in the Seymour Center aquarium are chosen because they elicit questions a scientist might ask. Each of the animals has eye-catching characteristics-fast movement, bright color, bizarre look-that inspires the scientist in all of us. Scientists look at these strange phenomena and ask the same questions we might. Then they get busy answering the question.
The exhibits are truly world class in quality, both in terms of information and design.
Besides the Center itself and the doscent tours, no visit would be complete without the obligatory picture of Ms. Blue, the largest whale skeleton on public display in the world, just outside the entrance. At 87 feet long, Ms. Blue is hard to miss, and is a centerpiece of the Center.