Welcome To Cannery Row!
Yes, it’s a real place, immortalized in John Steinbeck’s book about the lives of workers along this famous fish canning district in Monterey Bay, California – and that town has one of the world’s best Aquariums – that yes, used to be a cannery!
The iconic Aquarium is open again – and it’s one of the most magical places you can explore…
When you enter, you are actually inside an old canning operation, where all sorts of fish – and famously sardines – were canned here for decades…and while the canned fish business went away, they still have some inventory left…
The Aquarium was built on the site of Hodven Cannery, opened in 1916. It finally closed in 1973, and eleven years later, this amazing Aquarium opened – with lots and lots of sardines on display!
Want to see them in action?
Check out this incredible salt water tank for the sardines:
Tinned sardines were instrumental in helping win World War 2 – as these could be eaten by soldiers in battle without going bad. There is a room where you are literally surrounded by the sardines.
These silvery fish are just the tip of the iceberg here. In fact, this place has an entire circular room where the fish encircle you – check it out:
As the Aquarium website states:
“More than 35,000 creatures representing over 550 species fill 34 major galleries. With nearly 200 exhibits in all, the Aquarium is a window to the wonders of the ocean.”
Need more proof? How about a stunning Jellyfish exhibit. Yes, Jellyfish – like you’ve never seen before!
You enter a darkened room, which is filled with jellyfish of all shapes, sizes and colors…here are some examples:
This is a stunning exhibit – here is a closer look:
And if you want to see them in action, here you go:
There are so many amazing things to see at this place – they have everything from Penguins to Sea Otters…
Rise Up, Sea Otter, Rise UP!
This Sea Otter was happily chowing down on some food – but what I only got a partial shot of was this amazing sight – the Sea Otter came out of the water and stood completely up and stretched out to get his meal!
It happened so quickly I didn’t get all of him, but that was an amazing sight to see – they have public feedings and lectures and we were told he’d been trained to do this!
“See Food” Indeed!
I love squid, and I will be honest, I felt a pang of guilt as I looked at his fellow, because I knew that he tasted great – some other time, for now I’ll watch these two play in the water…
Because you are under water for most of the exhibits, I noticed an interesting occurrence: the fish had a reflection at times, when they were close to the top of the water…like this dolphin:
And that is a Giant Octopus clinging to a rock underwater, while its reflection stares back…and finally, I got a shot of us with what was the largest fish we’d ever seen!
The Monterey Aquarium on Cannery Row at Monterey Bay is so fascinating – read more about it here:
https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/about/our-history
Since you are in town, why not eat where Clint Eastwood did?
This is a scene from the bar at the iconic Sardine Factory, where Clint filmed “Play Misty For Me” – see that movie history here – and what I ate there as well!
Two hours north of Monterey, you can see more sea life – at Pier 39 in San Francisco!
You can walk right up and watch them splash around and make lots and lots of noise…oh, and know you can smell them too!
You can click here for more pictures and video:
Just a half hour south of Monterey Bay is a California state park that has a Calla Lily valley that opens up to the Pacific Ocean:
You can see more pictures and video of this amazing sight as well by clicking here:
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Let me know if you’ve seen this Jellyfish exhibit!
Categories: Exotic Travel, Memoirs, nature, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir
johnrieber 
What a treat to see these videos. How wonderful that the cannery became an aquarium.
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I LOVE this! Your videos of the sardines and jellyfish are mesmerizing! I’ve been to the Monterey Aquarium a couple of times and it may be my favorite! (I like the one in Chicago, too.) Seattle’s Aquarium was recently renovated, and we hope to visit this fall. But sorry to say, I don’t think it will measure up to this one.
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Hi John, such great pictures and videos. I also love aquariums and wish I could get better pictures through the glass. Michael and I recently visited the magnificent aquarium in the Dubai Mall. It also had every ocean creature you can think of and I didn’t once thing about eating any of them – haha!
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HA! I know it’s bad of me to do so….but with a virtual ring of sardines by the thousands, I figured they wouldn’t miss a few! Thanks as always for your comments and shares! I will be sharing my Victoria Falls videos in a few days and I think you will love it
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😂 🐟 I look forward to your Victoria Falls post.
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The area around Monterey was beautiful….I was there in the late 60s…..thanx for the reminder and the memory. chuq
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While it’s more modern today, the vibe of Cannery Row still exists…thanks for the comment!
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We love the Monterey Bay Aquarium and have visited it at least three times.
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Yes, we love it too!
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‘Cannery Row’ has come up in articles and on TV for me a number of times before – methinks I remember Rick Stein doing a whole very interesting programme on it . . . but your photos are fabulous and so appreciated! Did not realize about the sardines . . . and the jellyfish pics are unreal 🙂 !
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John, what a fantastic post! I liked the jelly fish the most – but so much to enjouy – and the wall of sardines and even seeing the stacked cans was cool.
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Cannery Row has so much history – and the Aquarium is one of the greatest in the world – thanks for reading and commenting, much appreciated!
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💚💚💚
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what a cool aquarium and I’ve always heard so much about cannery row !
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There is so much history there…which is saying a lot because there isn’t that much history there at all…basically less than 200 years! Thanks for the comment!
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That’s an impressive aquarium, and I remember reading ‘Cannery Row’ in my teens.
Best wishes, Pete.
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Love the pictures and video.
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