The Sant Ocean Hall, located within the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, is the museum’s largest permanent exhibit. It invites visitors to explore Earth’s global ocean. This expansive hall introduces the ocean, encompassing its dynamic past, present, and potential future. It combines marine specimens and models with modern technology, including high-definition video displays. The exhibit highlights that the ocean covers approximately 71% of the planet’s surface and holds about 97% of its water.
The Hall’s Major Attractions
Upon entering the Sant Ocean Hall, visitors are greeted by Phoenix, a life-size model of a North Atlantic right whale, measuring approximately 45 feet. This detailed replica is based on an actual female whale, cataloged as #1705, that scientists have tracked since her birth in 1987 off the coast of Georgia. The model precisely replicates her distinct callosities and a scar below her right lip, which are unique identifiers for researchers. Phoenix represents a baleen whale, characterized by filter-feeding plates.
Nearby, two preserved giant squid specimens are displayed. The larger specimen, a female caught off the coast of Spain in 2005, originally measured around 11 meters (36 feet) and weighed over 150 kilograms (330 pounds), though it has since shrunk to about 7.6 meters (25 feet) due to preservation. A smaller male specimen measures approximately 2.7 meters (9 feet) long and weighs more than 45.5 kilograms (100 pounds). These animals typically inhabit depths between 1,500 and 3,000 feet, living in perpetual darkness.
The hall also features a vibrant living Indo-Pacific coral reef aquarium, one of only two live exhibits throughout the entire museum. This 1,600-gallon tank houses around 60 species of coral, alongside fish and marine invertebrates like carpet anemones, snapping shrimp, and long-spined sea urchins. The corals in this exhibit originated from aquacultured specimens, demonstrating sustainable practices. Visitors can explore the “Deep Ocean” section, which displays a bubblegum coral, the largest known deep-sea coral, and the massive, 7-foot tall fossilized jaws of a Megalodon shark, an extinct predator that roamed the oceans between 2.6 and 23 million years ago.
The Science and Story of the Ocean
The exhibit conveys a central message: the ocean functions as a single, interconnected global system that shapes climate and weather patterns. It guides visitors through the ocean’s extensive history, beginning with its origins approximately 3.8 billion years ago. This narrative unfolds along the “Journey Through Time” walkway, which illustrates the evolution of marine life across geological periods.
Interactive displays and high-definition media enhance the educational experience. The “Science on a Sphere,” a large spherical projection, visualizes global ocean data, including its constant motion and interactions with land and atmosphere. An immersive high-definition film, “Ocean Odyssey,” created by cinematographer Feodor Pitcairn, wraps around the exhibit walls, simulating an underwater journey. The hall highlights the complex relationship between humans and the ocean, exploring how human activities impact marine environments and emphasizing the importance of conservation.
History and Creation of the Exhibit
The Sant Ocean Hall opened on September 27, 2008. Its creation was made possible through a donation from Roger and Vicki Sant, Washington philanthropists for whom the hall is named, who contributed $15 million to support the exhibit and related programs.
The project spanned five years and involved a total investment of $49 million, representing the largest renovation in the museum’s history at the time. This 23,000-square-foot exhibition space was developed through a collaborative effort between the Smithsonian Institution and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The hall showcases over 600 marine specimens and models from the museum’s collections.