To further protect and encourage stewardship of the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary (MBNMS), the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation (NMSF) and the Monterey Bay Sanctuary Foundation (MBSF) have embarked on a campaign to create the MBNMS Exploration Center in Santa Cruz. The overall goal is to encourage visitors to examine the issues impacting the Sanctuary and learn how they can personally help to protect these underwater treasures.

After a two-year study, Santa Cruz was selected from 23 sites for the new Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary Exploration Center. The Exploration Center has a prime location next to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and admission will be free, thus attracting a diverse audience.

The 10,600-square-foot Exploration Center will feature a variety of interactive, bilingual educational exhibits; a state-of-the-art classroom; views of the ocean; a small theater; and a gift shop. The Exploration Center’s classroom, will be equipped with seawater tanks and will offer standards-based, educational programs in science, math, writing, arts, history, and humanities for K-12 students and their teachers.

The Sanctuary Exploration Center will be so much more than your typical science museum. Inside visitors will find:

• Dynamic, interactive multi-media exhibits designed for both children and adults
  
  
• A theater with wide-screen, real-time, underwater video
  
  
• Hands-on geology lab featuring samples from the sanctuary
  
  
• Practical examples of how to appreciate and preserve the natural resources in the sanctuary

Through these unique and interactive exhibits, the Sanctuary Exploration Center will help guests understand the interconnectedness of the sea life, the impacts of land-based human activity, and the uniqueness of the sanctuary’s marine habitat. The ultimate goal is to have visitors come in the door as ocean-lovers, but go out the door wise ocean stewards, helping to preserve Monterey Bay and the Ocean for generations to come.

The Exploration Center will open in Summer 2012.