![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/05\/20133931\/5-20-26-jellys-4437-366124-9sqlaziv-137003-snmG2FPe.jpg\")
<\/a>A worker gets a tank ready for the Jelly Dreamscapes opening at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\nSea jelly varieties are nearly endless, ranging in size from microscopic to more than 100 feet long, and new species are discovered all the time. Not a true fish, the translucent jellies are related to coral and sea anemones.<\/p>\n
The new exhibit, called Jelly Dreamscapes, is darkened like a theater. Light emanates from the overhead starlike illumination, kaleidoscopes, holograms and a massive end-to-end projection. Across 25 tanks \u2014 some built into walls and others freestanding \u2014 and several interactive displays, visitors can view and learn about each species\u2019 origins, diet and anatomy.<\/p>\n
Staff will rotate more than 40 species through the tanks, depending on which varieties are reproducing enough. \u201cThat\u2019ll keep it really dynamic for returning visitors and our members, that when they come, they may or may not see the same jellies on display,\u201d Jaros said.<\/p>\n
Sea jellies were brought to Long Beach in two ways. Many were traded for or donated by aquariums worldwide \u2014 from Tokyo, Paris, Monterey Bay and Hartford, Conn. Others were captured by deep-sea divers in the middle of the night \u2014 when sea jellies are drawn to the surface to feed on plankton.<\/p>\n The new exhibit is the result of a $2 million overhaul of the aquarium\u2019s former upstairs gallery, requiring a piping system that can replicate the water temperatures of the world, from the Arctic Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea.<\/p>\n Some tanks were sourced specifically from a company in Kagawa, Japan, that layers acrylic in a way that imitates the deep blue of the ocean.<\/p>\n There are a lot of misconceptions around the sea creatures, staff say. Most people only ever observe them in dead or dying states, spoiling on a beach or used as a gag in a movie.<\/p>\n Jellies may only live up to a year as a medusa \u2014 the floating blob we all know \u2014 but they can last up to 25 years as a polyp, which looks like a tiny sea anemone that grows and then releases free-swimming adult medusae, which in turn reproduce more polyps.<\/p>\n Staff will cultivate and grow polyps at the aquarium as a way to maintain populations for each species on display. Various strains of plankton will be grown onsite as well, for feeding.<\/p>\n \u201cNearly all of the animals that we have that you\u2019ll see were aquacultured here at the aquarium,\u201d Jaros said.<\/p>\n While being brainless and blind doesn\u2019t seem to have stopped the jellies from extinction, the creatures are incredibly fragile. Tiny hairs, or cilia, propel it forward, putting on a show as extravagant as any sci-fi flick.<\/p>\n Some are striped, spotted and come in a rainbow of colors, shapes and sizes, from tiny, transparent blimps to the lion\u2019s mane jellyfish that can grow as long as a whale. Some resemble a boiled egg, others like a yolk poured into water. Many have no stinging tentacles, instead opening their mouths to envelop their prey.<\/p>\n<\/a>Two people stand in front of a giant jellyfish tank as the Aquarium of the Pacific opens Jelly Dreamscapes in Long Beach on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\n<\/a>A large screen spans the Jelly Dreamscapes space at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\n<\/a>A Moon Jellyfish is illuminated by lights as the Aquarium of the Pacific opens Jelly Dreamscapes in Long Beach on Wednesday, May 20, 2026. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.<\/p>\n