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Hi I'm Julie Packard and I'm here with Pottery Barn Kids talking about the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Well I got involved with the creation of Monterey Bay Aquarium with my big sister whose a marine biologist
and she and some of her biology colleagues had and idea to share this amazing place with the public
uh through creating an aquarium here in cannery row
and I got involved early on and our father had a foundation that did charitable work and we all got fired up on this notion
and I guess the rest is history.
Monterey Bay is on a global scale is really a very important place biologically speaking
there is a lot of very cold very nutrient rich water that comes up from the deep zone every year.
and it makes for a huge array of marine life
here on Monterey Bay. So its just a fabulous place for wildlife watching and a fabulous place for studying
Well probably the exhibit here at the aquarium is the most iconic and familiar to people is the kelp forest exhibit.
people talk about it as sort of cathedral like experience
with the light filtering down and these majestic kelp plants with all the marine life that lives there
and the algae in there the seaweeds are just flourishing
and all the different animals the live with them its just a great looking exhibit.
Another exhibit at the aquarium that has really been a ground breaking for us is all of our jelly fish exhibits.
and kind of the iconic exhibit there is our big sea nettle tank
people are just mesmerized looking at these orange jellies with beautiful burgundy tentacles
Sea otters have been certainly one of the favs of the Monterey Bay Aquarium and one that were really proud of because its so much more than an exhibit.
They were all rescued pups or orphaned and raised here at the aquarium
and they are kind of the emissaries for the public
and they each have their own great stories 0:02;03.110,0:02:08.170 When you look at the people's concern about the environment they tend to be land base
and for years people really subscribed to the notion that the ocean was so vast nothing we can do could possibly affect them they're just so huge
and so we dump all of our waste in to them
and we harvest fish just as fast as we could
and then of course the coastal habitat conversion and all of the important bays and estuaries that we've turned into cities
you know to meet our growing needs that has really affected the wildlife in a big way
and finally closer to home and things we do everyday plastics are a huge issue and erosion plastic has made our lives a lot better and more convenient in a lot of ways but
they stick around in the environment a really long time and there is huge amounts of plastics that are floating around in the oceans and harming wildlife.
I think there are a few really easy things people can do that will be making a difference
For people that are interested in getting involved and making sustainable seafood choices they have two really easy options.
1. is to go to our website www.montereybayaquarium.org and download a pocket guide to take with them.
the other is to go into your iphone and download Seafood Watch iphone app which its free and its really great and that way where ever you are traveling around the country
you can look at the recommendations and even for the region where you're dinning
I actually developed my passion for the environment starting from a young age when it was all about spending time out doors with my parents
and I just think that its absolutely the most important thing that families can do not only to expose their kids to these very important issues that face you know the future of humanity
but more important to give them the joy of being out in nature
there is so many kids that aren't expose to any green space at all
they're not out in nature to really see its value you know
our water sheds that provide our water our atmosphere that lets us breathe the healthy ocean that produces so much of our oxygen.
These things enable life to exist that I think for a child you know the best value is just that the joy and fun of discovering this wonderful things in nature
There's so much environmental bad news out there right now I think the an important thing for parents is to make sure our kids remain optimistic
and that we can celebrate the successes and make people feel like they are all making a difference and on many of these issues we really are
We are really excited about the opportunity to work with Pottery Barn Kids to get the message out to families
about the ocean and the environment. Really the most important thing is to keep learning going.
All your entire life whether you are 2 or 80 and so that family time together and learning about how we all can play a role
in the future of our ocean is absolutely important
Pottery Barn Kids