Cooped up? Feeling anxious? Looking for a diversion for the kids? Or yourself?
Until at least March 27, the Monterey Bay Aquarium is closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. But you can still visit its famed animals — from sea otters to sharks to hypnotic moon jellies — through 10 live webcams. And the online crowds are growing fast.
“Our webcams are still streaming,” said Julie Packard, executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, in a tweet on Saturday. “Until we reopen, you can check in on the sea otters, sway with the kelp forest, find tranquility with the jellies and look for wildlife out on Monterey Bay.”
The free webcams are available from 7 a.m.to 7 p.m. Pacific time, on the aquarium’s Facebook page, its Youtube channel or the aquarium’s website, at www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium isn’t alone in offering wildlife webcams. Other Northern California institutions that do include the Oakland Zoo, which has webcams for elephants, bears and other wildlife, the California Academy of Sciences, which features its coral reef, penguin exhibit, and a live webcam on the Farallon Islands, and the Ventana Wilderness Society in Big Sur, which showcases condors in the wild.
“We’re grateful to have the opportunity to lift people’s spirits,” Peterson said. “We can’t welcome them in our doors but we are still there for them.”
On Monday, fans of the webcams gushed on the aquarium’s Facebook site.
“Watching from upstate New York. Thank you for something to laugh about!!!” wrote Nancy Rouse as the sea otters rubbed their paws together.
“Thanks for sharing this feed!” wrote Toshiko Eng. “Something we all can enjoy during our county-wide shelter-in-place! Takes the stress away!”
“We need this with no baseball, theater, or other normal activities,” wrote Stuart Endick on the moon jelly cam. “Wish the jelly cam had TP!”
Contact 36 North Property Management
To learn more about things to do in the Monterey area, or to speak with us about our property management services, contact us today by clicking here.