Glow Deeper!

Bioluminescence Experience at the Monterey Bay Aquarium

The Monterey Bay Aquarium’s new exhibition is getting glowing reviews. Into the Deep: Exploring Our Undiscovered Ocean, is an unparalleled living exhibition that includes an immersive deep-sea bioluminescence experience. You’ll enter a dark room simulating the explosive light show that happens in the deep sea—far beyond where scuba divers can reach! This experience was created using never-seen-before video footage of animals bioluminescing.

Get Tickets!

Sea the Light

bioluminescence monterey bay aquarium

Witness a living light show like no other. Monterey Bay Aquarium’s deep-sea bioluminescence experience has you entering a dark room mimicking that of ocean depths not even scuba divers can reach!

As you discover which creatures use bioluminescence, you’ll feel as if you’ve been immersed in the abyss to experience a most fascinating living light show.

Get Tickets!

Seeing Red & Rainbows

blood belly jelly

red shrimp

Seeing red takes on a mesmerizing new meaning at the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s new Into the Deep exhibition. Discover how animals camouflage by using the color red, which actually appears black in the deep! This includes animals like the bloody-belly comb jelly, an extraordinary species that does not use bioluminescence but instead diffracts light that touches its fluttering cilia and gives an appearance of sparkling rainbow eyelashes. Colorful illusions, indeed.

Get Tickets!

Transparency & Trickery

snow globe jelly

common siphonophore

predatory tunicate

It’s not just the bioluminescent, red, and rainbow appearances that make the deep sea so fascinating. Into the Deep at Monterey Bay Aquarium also features creatures that are transparent in the deep, like jellies and predatory tunicates.

Meet the common siphonophore and the beautiful snow globe jelly, a delicate creature with a red gut that is camouflaged in the deep sea, thereby protecting it from danger. Then there are the predatory tunicates who make their homes on the seafloor and amid deep sea canyon walls, waiting for prey to swim right into their cavernous hoods.

Trending Stories NorCal

View all Stories
  1. Three Cheers

    Good things come in threes when you visit Sonoma. Head out on a short hike right from town, sip and stroll the historic plaza, then take in the magical holiday lights.

    View
  2. Island Tree Topper

    The light display atop Angel Island State Park’s Mount Livermore has long been a cheerful twinkle visible from many cities throughout the Bay Area on holiday season nights. Get into the festive spirit by hiking the 2-mile (one-way) trail from Ayala Cove up to the "Angel Lights."

    View
  3. Go, Tell It on the Mountain

    {NOTE: Due to atmospheric rivers that can come this time of year, always be sure to check ahead for trail closures and hazards. And of course, wait for better weather and drier con

    View
  4. Serene Las Gallinas

    A serene stroll alongside marshland, passing ponds and grasses frilled in seasonal wildflowers, with Mount Tam a beacon in the background … how nice. As part of the esteemed Bay Trail, San Rafael’s Las Gallinas Valley Birding Loop and Wildlife Ponds comprises about 3.5 miles of wide-open trail.

    View

Trending Stories SoCal

View all Stories
  1. Woman swimming in Carson Hotsprings natural thermal pool

    Hot Springs, Naturally

    Thermal spring waters are famous for their curative, relaxing elements, and Reno Tahoe is filled with them! Sink into these amazing thermal respites for a wellness super soak.

    View
  2. Dune It Right

    Want a beach that will really get you away from it all? Monterey's Fort Ord Dunes State Park is just the ticket. And it often glows golden toward sunset.

    View
  3. Sponsored

    Redding Lights and Silent Nights

    Give your holiday events calendar a major glow up this winter in California’s sunniest city. Redding is a revelation: Surrounded by iconic scenery like Mount Shasta, Lassen Volcanic National Park, and Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.

    View
  4. Hikers sitting on a large rock slab next to Three Sisters Falls in Cleveland National Forest Southern California near Julian

    Three Sisters

    Good things come in threes at this hike to a lovely trio-tiered waterfall in Cleveland National Forest. The 4.25-mile out-and-back hike rambles among rolling hills, with rocky mountain views as switchbacks take you down to a lush canyon and the falls.

    View