Jellyfish float through Aquarium of the Pacific in a new immersive exhibit

The Aquarium of the Pacific is taking visitors on a whimsical, almost out-of-this-world journey with its latest exhibition. But the Long Beach facility isn’t looking at space, but deep in the oceans to the unique and fascinating jellyfish with the opening of a new exhibition dubbed  “Jelly Dreamscapes.”

Featuring hundreds of jellyfish covering all sorts of species, the exhibition opened Saturday, May 23 and runs through April 2027.

“What you’ll see in this exhibit are animals that are pulsing, drifting and very calming moving in their habitat. The vibe that we’re going for is very calm and kind of a serene atmosphere,” said Stacy Wong, senior manager of interpretation for the Aquarium.

“I think that calm drifting and pulsing movement of jellies has always just been great for people. I feel like our lives are always busy, always moving, so just having a moment to just sit and take a breath and be mesmerized by them is always beneficial,” Wong said.

Set up to resemble a sort of living art gallery, the dimly lit spaces will also feature soundscapes as visitors take in the 500-million-year-old gelatinous creatures.

“The jellyfish really stand out with this backlighting,” she said.

Jellyfish have no brains, hearts or gills and are composed mostly of water, but they have an alien-like soothing appeal as they float through the water. People will be able to see jellyfish like the Asian Moon Jelly, which can reach about two inches in length. Also swimming through the exhibit will be Blue Lions Mane Jelly, which earned its name thanks to having about 800 stinging tentacles. There’s even a jellyfish nursey as part of the exhibition

“I think right now my favorites in there are these baby fried egg jellies. They’re babies, so they’re very small right now but they’re going to grow. They have very puffy looking underside of them and the edges are lined in purple. So the color is really unique,” she said.

There will also be jellyfish that don’t live in the ocean but instead float around in lagoons and lakes, like the Lagoon Jelly, which get most of their energy from algae. And there will be a touch pond where people will be able to touch moon jellies.

“I think people like jellyfish because they’re so unusual. A question we get is if jelly are aliens because they’re just so different from us,” Wong said.

Jelly Dreamscapes

When: Through April 2027

Where: Aquarium of the Pacific, 100 Aquarium Way, Long Beach

Information: 562-590-3100, www.aquariumofpacific.org.