What to KnowJelly DreamscapesAquarium of the PacificLong BeachMay 23, 2026, through April 30, 2027Included with aquarium admission; timed reservations are required
We can’t behold a dinosaur, sigh, but we can go fully agog over animals that were around during the time of the massive beasts.
We are specifically referring to those strange — strike that, we instead mean “seriously surreal” — ocean icons that lack a heart and brain but possess multitudes of mystery and oodles of otherworldly glamour.
It’s jellyfishes we’re mooning over, those gelatinous pulsing powerhouses of the deep (and not so deep).
But “gelatinous” and “pulsing” may not go fancifully far enough in summing up the quirky qualities that often define the jellyverse, including the jealousy-inspiring ability to glow or the fact that some jellies boast over 1,000 tentacles.
And pondering the oral arms, those frequently frilly tendrils that convey prey to a jelly’s mouth? We could be here all day, completely lost in an oral arm haze.
Robin RiggsRobin Riggs
“There are approximately 200 species of true jellies,” shared the Aquarium of the Pacific. Admire several of them starting May 23 when “Jelly Dreamscapes” opens in Long Beach.
The Aquarium of the Pacific has happily existed in the globby glow of the jellyverse since the 1990s, but sometimes something especially jelly-fied floats into the Long Beach institution.
And starting May 23, visitors can enter the “Jelly Dreamscapes,” an expansive new exhibition that will be on view for nearly a full year.
“Guests of all ages will be able to learn more about colorful sea jellies, sea nettles with free-flowing tentacles, and ctenophores that glow underwater, including the barrel jelly and California sea gooseberry, plus the opportunity to touch Asian moon jellies at the Aquarium’s outdoor touch lab on Harbor Terrace,” shared the aquarium staff.
Robin RiggsRobin Riggs
Let’s glow to the Aquarium of the Pacific for this iridescently ethereal experience.
A film celebrating the wide variety of jellies in the world will be part of the experience, as well as opportunities to learn about the aquarium’s efforts to “… propagate and raise over forty species of sea jellies in spaces specially designed for each stage of their life cycle.”
Upping the float-through aura of the low-lit spaces?
A peaceful mood, complete with aural flows inspired by the realm of these eons-spanning invertebrates, will enhance the dreamy atmosphere.
Extend your tentacles and wrap them around the aquarium’s site, where tickets, reservations, and the opportunity to time travel back hundreds of millions of years awaits.