Two thousand gallons a minute — that's how much seawater from the bay is brought into the Monterey Bay Aquarium, 365 days a year, through two large pipes. The seawater carries in spores, anemones, plankton and tiny animals that make their home in every exhibit in the aquarium.

Monterey Bay Aquarium is a place of learning. It opened in 1984 and this year is celebrating its 25th anniversary. You don't have to be an animal lover to enjoy the beauty and serenity of the kelp forest or appreciate the scenic vistas that surround the aquarium.

A BIT OF HISTORY

The aquarium was once the Portola Sardines canning factory. Sardines would be harvested from the bay and canned immediately. Fish caught in the morning were already in delivery trucks that afternoon.

Because of overfishing, all the canneries in Monterey closed in the mid-20th century.

The building was left abandoned until the early 1980s. A marine biology student from Stanford named Julie Packard persuaded her parents to help fund the startup costs for the Monterey Bay Aquarium. Her father is David Packard, of Hewlett-Packard fame. That was the beginning of this magical place.

Twenty five years later, the Monterey Bay Aquarium has made its name in ocean conservation and animal welfare.

BEHIND THE SCENES

More than 400 employees are on staff, but you only see a few during your visit. Most of them are behind the scenes taking care of the animals, doing research such as tracking tuna crossing the Pacific, or out on the bay rescuing abandoned otter pups.

EXHIBITS

The centerpiece of the aquarium is the impressive Kelp Forest. Its tank is 28 feet high with kelp growing more than 4 inches a day. Divers work daily to prevent the kelp fronds from tangling. Sardines swim in schools while leopard sharks and sheephead fish glide among the blades. The kelp sways gently along the surge of the tide.

The Outer Bay exhibit features animals that live in the open ocean. The blue-fin tuna swim at amazing speed in this deep blue million-gallon tank. Turtles seem to float by, while the sharks swim stealthily. Alienlike jellyfish float gracefully in enclosures designed to highlight their willowy bodies.

On the first floor of the aquarium, The Secret Lives of Seahorses display opened this year. More than 15 different types of seahorses and pipefish are on display, in majestic colors. Camouflaged well, you have to look very closely to find them. Visitors are mesmerized watching these fairylike creatures. Some look like floating seaweed, others mimic thin sticks at the bottom of the sea. The males give birth to young, making them very unusual.

In the Coastal Birds exhibits, injured sandpipers and stilts make their home on the sandy shore. Most of the birds are unable to be returned to the wild. They spend the rest of their lives in the marshes at the aquarium.

OTTERS

In the main otter exhibit, three otters play happily in the pool, using rocks to crack open crab and shellfish while being observed by millions of visitors every year.

There are only 3,000 otters in the wild in Northern California. The aquarium has been researching why the otter population has plateaued. One of the reasons may be due to toxoplasmosis, a disease caused by a parasite that is found in cat feces that enters the ocean through runoff.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium has rescued hundreds of abandoned otter pups. The resident surrogate mother, Toola, raises the orphaned pups before they are returned to the wild.

INTERACTIVE EXHIBITS

The aquarium also has a touchy-feely tide pool for kids where they can pet stingrays and look at sea cucumbers and hermit crabs up close. There's also an exhibit that lets you look at microscopic sea creatures under a high-magnification microscope. You get to marvel at the tiniest inhabitants of the sea.

SCENIC VISTAS

Outside the aquarium, wild otters whimsically play and eat among the kelp. Sea lions sun themselves on the rocks all day, not bothered by curious kayakers going by. Seabirds search for food.

SEE FOR YOURSELF

Don't walk to the aquarium, run!

It's one of the most informative and interesting places that will captivate the entire family.

Admission tickets are approximately $30 for adults, slightly less for children and senior citizens.

Plan to spend at least four hours, if not longer, because there's so much to see and learn. There's also a restaurant and an extensive gift shop. Every purchase helps fund the aquarium's research and conservation efforts.

Visitors leave the aquarium appreciating the diversity of sea life and having a greater respect for the environment.

Animal lover Leslie Kawamoto has been with the Advertiser for 19 years, or 133 in dog years. Check out her blog at http://HonoluluAdvertiser.com/Blogs.