New Baja exhibit explores land, marine life

Get a gander at a fanged, green moray eel, a bug-eyed bluespotted jawfish and a regal orange Pacific seahorse, all floating through the majesty of their nautical realm. These are just a few of the whimsical and beautiful creatures visitors will encounter at the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s new “Viva Baja! Life on the Edge” exhibit, which opened in March.

No passport is needed for this mesmerizing journey to the underwater wonders of Mexico’s Baja peninsula, a land where the cactus-dotted desert meets the seemingly endless aquamarine sea. While many associate the 800-mile peninsula with powder-soft beaches and salt-rimmed margaritas, the creators of this exhibit want to showcase the richness and diversity of the Baja ecosystem, from the splashy splendors of the Vermilion Sea to the owls that perch amid the golden sands of the Sonoran Desert. Two years in the making, this 7,000-square-foot exhibit frames a vast, tropical panorama that plunges us into the mysteries of the big blue and beyond.

“We wanted to tell a new and unexpected story of Baja, a story of life on the edge,” senior exhibit developer Raul Nava said. “It’s a very special and unique environment, and it’s also a fragile ecosystem.”

Indeed, some of the creatures on display are endangered, and the exhibit prompts visitors to think about the effect people have on nature. Many of the region’s legendary coral reefs are in distress. The Pacific seahorse, which can grow to about a foot in length, is the only type of its kind found off the coast of California, but it’s also listed as vulnerable. The vaquita porpoise is being threatened by pirate fishing, largely illegal gill-netting for the totoaba, also a critically endangered fish. There are now only 100 vaquitas left to glide through the peninsula’s waters.

Staring at the mesmerizing shimmer of shiny fish flashing through the azure depths, it’s easy to see why oceanographer Jacques Cousteau called the Sea of Cortez “the world’s aquarium.” “Viva Baja” is a chance for visitors to immerse themselves in the beauty and wonder of the deep without getting wet.

Visitors are invited to traipse through six galleries teeming with the wildlife specimens that make their home in the Sea of Cortez. From the hermit crabs scuttling along the coral to the tiny fish darting through the mangroves, this is a rare and memorable look into the mysterious world below the surface of the water. Here visitors can glimpse beauties generally only spied by snorkelers and divers: the sergeant major damselfish, the porcupinefish, the Cortez rainbow wrasse.

“We wanted to create an immersive experience,” Nava said. “There’s always something to look at and touch as you move through the environment.”

The uniqueness of the “Viva Baja” exhibit, which is bilingual, is part of its allure. This is the first time the aquarium has showcased desert animals.

“It’s exciting to showcase the land animals right next to their marine neighbors,” Nava said.