THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 

              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.



DATE: Saturday, June 15, 1996               TAG: 9606200640

SECTION: DAILY BREAK             PAGE: E2   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: SPECIAL EDITION: A VISITOR'S GUIDE TO THE EXPANDED VIRGINIA MARINE

SCIENCE MUSEUM

SOURCE: BY PAUL CLANCY

        STAFF WRITER

                                            LENGTH:   49 lines

INTRODUCTION: A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY TRAVEL FROM MOUNTAIN STREAM TO OPEN OCEAN, AND MEET THE NATIVES ALONG THE WAY.

We've been invited on a journey that begins in the mountains and ends at the bottom of the ocean.

The vastly expanded Virginia Marine Science Museum, opening today after almost two years of construction, tells the story of Virginia's marine life from the freshwater reaches of the James River to the open waters of the Atlantic Ocean.

Officials predict that the museum, with its big new aquariums, its aviary, marsh trails, interactive displays and holy-mackerel-size theater, will put Virginia - and particularly Virginia Beach - on the nation's marine sciences map.

As visitors, we can lose ourselves in the lives of river otters as they play and munch and lounge beside what looks like a river bank, dive into their tank and perform their water ballet.

We can stroll among wildflowers or zoom in on an osprey nest as we walk the trails along Owls Creek on the sprawling museum complex.

We can travel in our imagination to the depths of the ocean and take a front-row seat where sharks and rays and schooling fish swim; we can gaze at sea turtles and harbor seals and jellyfish.

Or watch a film that's so realistic it's hard not to reach out to touch the images of fish swimming by or branches of kelp waving before our eyes.

The museum invites us all to dive into the world of Virginia's marine environment. MEMO: Some exhibits not yet open

Not all of the museum's new exhibits will be finished today.

The Norfolk Canyon aquarium, the museum's largest, will eventually

house sharks and other fish. Today, visitors will see divers making

last-minute preparations. Some of the permanent occupants should be

there next week.

Also, the museum's harbor seal exhibit is not expected to be ready

until August. And, to make time for last-minute raccoon-proofing, the

aviary may be empty for a few more days. ILLUSTRATION: STEVE EARLEY / The Virginian-Pilot

A river otter delights young visitors during a recent media preview

of the museum's new exhibits. by SS