SEATTLE — Seattle Aquarium's new Ocean Pavilion, a multi-million dollar expansion near the waterfront, opens Thursday.
It includes several new exhibits, including an enormous one called The Reef.
"Really the first reaction people have when they walk up to The Reef is just, 'Wow!'" said Erin Meyer, the Seattle Aquarium's chief conservation officer.
At half a million gallons and populated by thousands of marine animals and a few divers cleaning up for opening day, The Reef is the largest tropical water exhibit in the Northwest and the main attraction of the Seattle Aquarium's new Ocean Pavilion.
"So the Ocean Pavilion features habitat and ecosystems from the Coral Triangle and the Coral Triangle is like the Amazon of the ocean," Meyer explained. "There are these incredible coral reefs there that are still healthy today and they support incredibly bio-diverse eco-systems."
There's an Indo-Pacific Leopard shark here. he's part of an endangered species. From Seattle, he will have a husbandry role in bringing his kind back from the brink.
"It's the first project of ReShark, which is an international coalition of over 90 partners across 16 countries working to recover this endangered species," Meyer said.
Members of the aquarium got a sneak peek days before Ocean Pavilion opens to the public. Soon everyone will be able to see the spotted eagle rays, clown fish and sea horses who live on the other side of the same ocean that borders Washington State beaches.
"So the Ocean Pavilion provides a connection," Meyer said. "It helps inspire our guests and help them see the connection between themselves and these ecosystems, because it is a one world ocean. There's one ocean we are all connected and the waters are what connect us."
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