Years of construction along Seattle’s waterfront is intended to bring people closer to the water and natural beauty of Puget Sound. The opening Thursday of Seattle Aquarium’s new Ocean Pavilion expansion practically puts people in the water, to explore and better understand one of the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems on the other side of the Pacific.
GeekWire got a tour this week of Ocean Pavilion and its three main habitats, dedicated to the tropical waters around Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia. Known as the Coral Triangle, the region is often referred to as the “Amazon rainforest of the ocean.”
- “The Reef,” now the aquarium’s largest habitat at nearly 500,000 gallons, puts visitors up close with such species as leopard sharks, eagle rays, blue-spotted stingrays, and thousands of other fish typically only seen in the Indo-Pacific ocean.
- “The Archipelago” features an Indonesian mangrove forest at the surface with a colorful ecosystem of coral reef below.
- “At Home in the Ocean” is a kid friendly set of habitats designed to put younger guests up close with species such as clownfish, seahorses, leaf scorpionfish, and more.
Along the way, the aquarium has gone especially deep on immersive technology such as touch screens and audio/video stations to tell the story of the Coral Triangle and the connection between all ocean waters. There’s also a behind-the-scenes look at how aquarium residents are cared for and the sustainable practices used to power the building’s systems.
The centerpiece of the tech-enabled Pavilion is “One Ocean Hall,” a large, curvy space that uses 12 projectors to create a 360-degree video and interactive experience, including scenes projected on the floor. Through five separate feature films or via talks led by aquarium staff, guests might feel like they’re in the middle of a coral reef in the Indo-Pacific, a kelp forest in the Puget Sound, or swimming alongside whales in the Salish Sea.
Erin Meyer, chief conservation officer at the aquarium, said the goal with the roughly $170 million Ocean Pavilion is to transport people to the other side of the Pacific and to inspire them to take action to care for the ocean.
“This place is humming with technology,” Meyer said. “We needed to create a multimedia storytelling space so that we could connect people where they’re standing to what is featured in these habitats.”
Waterfront visitors don’t even need to enter the 50,000-square-foot Pavilion to experience some of the views afforded by the new space. A sprawling rooftop plaza connects to Pike Place Market via the Overlook Walk, creating a park that brings back the expansive views of Elliott Bay, the Seattle skyline and Mount Rainier that some might miss from driving the old Alaskan Way Viaduct.
At street level, just steps from the original aquarium building at Pier 59, a giant window called “The Oculus” sits above the main Pavilion entrance, giving people a free sneak peek inside The Reef habitat where a shark or eagle ray might pass overhead.
Inside and out, Ocean Pavilion features numerous design elements, artworks, exhibits, plantings and building materials inspired through collaboration with Coast Salish people and members of the Indigenous community.
Keep scrolling for more photos from GeekWire’s tour:
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