Monterey Bay Aquarium

This article appeared in Chemical Reactions, Volume 15.

Seeing the Sea in Monterey Bay

Tuna, sardines, squid, mackerel, anchovy and shark. Not the catch of the day at some swank seaside resort, these ocean swimmers are among residents of the new Outer Bay wing of the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, California. Constructed at a cost of $57 million, the galleries include a one-million gallon indoor exhibit, made using isopolyester resin, based on Amoco^® PIA (purified isophthalic acid), from Reichold Chemicals Inc.

Showcasing the waters where Monterey Bay meets the open ocean, the Outer Bay exhibit contains more water than all other Aquarium exhibits combined. Swimming in it are sharks, ocean sunfish (which can be 10 feet tall and weigh 3,000 pounds), a large green sea turtle, barracuda, yellowfin tuna and other open ocean fish. The tank is constructed of steel-reinforced concrete with fiberglass reinforced isopolyester liner and support ribs. The tank liner is shaped roughly like a halved eggshell, a shape that would have been prohibitively expensive to construct of concrete, but was necessary for practical reasons. In a tank with corners, fish may run into walls, injuring themselves. With no corners, the elliptical tank design prevents such mishaps.

Isopolyester's excellent resistance to corrosion made it an ideal choice in the resin selected for construction for two additional reasons, the most obvious being long life and easier maintenance compared to metals. More important, however, is the fact that corroding metal support ribs would cause electrical fields within the tank which would interfere with the sharks' ability to navigate and find food.

A team of architects, contractors and engineers worked for seven years to bring the open ocean exhibit to life. The exhibit was designed by Aquarium staff with Rhodes/Dahl Inc. serving as project managers. Design builders of the tank and liner were accomplished by William Kreysler & Associates Inc., who recommended fiberglass construction. Jordan Engineering consulted on the project.

Visitors to the Outer Bay exhibit look through the largest window on the planet - 54 feet long, 15 feet tall and 13 inches thick, weighing 78,000 pounds - into a 90-foot-long, 35-foot-deep exhibit, the tallest aquarium exhibit in the world.The goal of the Outer Bay wing is to interpret one of the largest and least understood habitats on Earth - the open ocean - and it does so in dramatic fashion, exhibiting rarely seen marine life in a habitat as close to nature as possible.

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Last updated: 09/21/06