Print
Aug 21, 2008 5:18 pm US/Pacific
Steinhart Aquarium Previews 'Water Planet' Exhibit
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) ―
-
-
The "Water Planet" exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences.
CBS
The California Academy of Sciences held a media preview Thursday morning to show off its new "Water Planet" exhibit, which explores the relationship between water and life through interactive displays and live animals.
The exhibit is in the center of the new Steinhart Aquarium at the Academy, which is slated to open its new building to the public on Sept. 27.
"It really is the heart of the Steinhart Aquarium," aquarium curator Bart Shepherd said of the exhibit.
"Water Planet" brings together new technologies, computer-aided design and living animals to focus on water and how animals adapt to it.
It is lined by walls that have dozens of windows into aquarium tanks. The walls double as a surround-view theater screen to create an ocean environment.
The exhibit also features interactive "islands" with touch surfaces that allow visitors to learn about survival tactics for creatures living in conditions where water is extremely scarce, abundant, hot or cold.
The exhibit was conceived by the New York-based design firm Thinc, which partnered with architecture firm Urban A&O to create the wall treatments and islands, according to the Academy.
At the news conference, the Academy played a five-minute video on the relationship between water and life. The movie, narrated by actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus, was projected on the surrounding walls and will play each hour once the museum opens.
Academy officials pointed out that "Water Planet" displays are grouped according to various animals' adaptation to life in and around water instead of geographically, which is how most exhibits are organized.
The perimeter of the exhibit features seven groups of tanks with the themes of feeding, locomotion, reproduction, defense, sensing, surviving in deserts and living in and out of water.
Shepherd said his favorite part of the exhibit is the display on medical leeches, which will show real leeches feeding on a fake leg.
The exhibit is just part of the new Steinhardt Aquarium, which will feature multiple exhibits, some 38,000 animals and the second-largest living coral reef display in the world, according to the Academy.
Buried in Golden Gate Park across from the de Young Museum, the California Academy of Sciences is home to the Kimball Natural History Museum, Morrison Planetarium and a 2.5-acre "living" roof.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Bay City News contributed to this report.)
