The Splash Zone: Ocean Homes gallery at Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, US, will reopen in March 2008 following a major revamp.

The new zone will double in size and feature three ocean habitats – Enchanted Kelp Forest, Coral Reef Kingdom and RuggedRocky Shore – complete with 45 new bilingual interactive exhibits and games and new animals, such as leafy and weedy sea dragons, pot-bellied seahorses and splendid and spotted garden eels.

The Kelp Forest will feature a giant kelp holdfast sculpture where visitors can touch the colorful ridges of oversized sea bugs, see the hairy arms of brittle stars, find a stash of hidden fish egg models and discover a living exhibit that’s home to a red octopus, whereas in the Coral Reef Kingdom gallery a life-size touch model of a cuttlefish will be on display and guests will be able to walk through a Coral Cave tunnel of tropical sea horses.

Crashing waves and rocks at the RuggedRocky Shore exhibit will demonstrate how boats maneuvre through the sea and how shore animals ride the waves or cling to rocks when the tide goes out.

The existing blackfooted penguin colony will be housed in a more spacious area with flat screen video monitors to improve viewing during the feeding shows and a trivia game will answer visitors’ questions.