While the adventures of Charles Darwin might have brought him from the shores of Galapagos to the tip of the Andes, your journey at the Aquarium of the Pacific will bring you on an equally exciting journey through the Pacific. Under the umbrella term of this ocean are the frigid waters of the North Pacific and the colorful palette of the Tropical Pacific. This gives rise to 50 odd exhibits housing 11,000 animals intrinsically linked to these waters. At the Aquarium, it isn’t just about passively seeing these creatures as if on a screened documentary but to touch and feel their unique differences. Fingers running over the rough scales of a bonnethead at the Shark Lagoon, it seems almost a mystery how these docile creatures could be related to the ferocious great whites swimming in a tank just meters away. Crawling into tight glass walled tunnels, you press your nose against the barrier for a look into the amusing antics of tropical penguins. Though the name sounds oxymoronic, the Magellanic penguins of LA have never witnessed snow in their lives, rocky ledges their home of choice and deep waters their second abode. Emerging from the end of the Pacific, you have successfully crossed rivers and tributaries, deep channels and unknown islets, leaving not one rock unturned.