Photos of the new California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco

Photos of the new California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco

Photos of the new California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco

mongabay.com
September 19, 2008

The new California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco’s Golden Park will open its doors to the general public for the first time on the weekend of September 27-28.



The new facility was designed and constructed to minimize its impact on the environment, employing wide range of energy-saving materials and technologies. The building features a 2.5-acre living roof which captures rainwater that is filtered through the Academy’s state-of-the-art living rainforest exhibit. Other exhibits include a planetarium, an aquarium, and a natural history museum. The also facility houses the Academy’s renowned research institution.



To mark the public opening of the Academy on the weekend of the September 27-28 there will be a celebration inside and outside the new facility. Admission will be free on Saturday the 27th and the museum will be open with extended hours on both days. The Academy’s lead corporate sponsor, PG&E, will be presenting green living tips and there will be food and live entertainment from around the world.



For a preview, check out these pictures — taken September 12 — of the new facility. The rainforest exhibit had not yet been completed at the time of the visit.



[Note: rainforest photos added 10/24/2008]

Academy ceiling as seen through the Amazon flooded forest aquarium exhibit Amazon fish seen through the flooded forest tunnel Arowana and other fish seen through the Amazon flooded forest tunnel Rainforest tree as seen from below the exhibit, in the Amazon flooded forest tunnel Cardinal tetra tank in the Amazon flooded forest exhibit Cardinal tetra tank in the Amazon flooded forest exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences Pacific coast marine tank Kelp forest marine tank Philippine reef tank Philippine reef aquarium Sea anemones Colorful clam Soft coral Madagascar leaf-nosed snake (Langaha madagascariensis) Madagascar Tomato Frog (Dyscophus antongilii) Giant day gecko (Phelsuma grandis) Vietnamese mossy frog (Theloderma corticale) Giant leaf-tail gecko (Uroplatus fimbriatus) Madagascar leaf-nosed snake (Langaha madagascariensis) Jellyfish Phyllobates vittatus poison dart frog

Lion fish Stonefish Moray eel with cleaner shrimp Cleaner shrimp Moray eel with cleaner shrimp Waxy monkey tree frog Electric-blue day gecko Waxy monkey frog Kelp forest marine aquarium Kelp forest marine exhibit Egyptian spiny-tailed lizard Philippine reef exhibit Alligator gar with a peak at the main aquarium area of the new CA Academy Rainforest dome Klemmer’s Yellow-headed Day Gecko (Phelsuma klemmeri) Green Mantella (Mantella viridis) Amazon flooded forest section of the new CA Academy of Sciences in San Francisco Indoor rainforest in the new CA Academy of Sciences in San Francisco South American Leaf Fish (Monocirrhus polyacanthus) 4-story rainforest in the new CA Academy of Sciences in San Francisco Madagascar giant day gecko (Phelsuma grandis)

Rainforest dome Planetarium Series of exhibits on climate change, Madagascar, Academy research, and evolution among other topics View of the de Young museum from the living roof of the Academy; note the solar panels One of the 7 “hills” that make up the living roof of the Academy; the objects are skylights Living roof Sting ray Philippine reef exhibit Arapaima (Pirarucu or paiche) fish in the Amzon exhibit Red-tailed catfish Freshwater fish seen through the Academy’s Amazon flooded forest tunnel Red-tailed catfish Golden Mantella (Mantella aurantiaca) Red-bellied piranha Red panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis) (male) Turquoise Honeycreeper [Dacnis cayana] eating a fruit Red panther chameleon (Furcifer pardalis) (male) Sleeping red-eyed tree frog Indoor rainforest in the new California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco