The entry to the exhibit, "Passages Of The Deep," led from the cold outside into a warm inside.

Glass doors divided the inside from the outside. In the lower right was the, "Maple Burl" a statue of five seals carved from a single piece of maple burl.

A tank of deep water fish was just inside the main entry. The blue of the water was an artifact of daylight from the entry doors.

A sign identified the exhibits. It read:

Canyons, plains and ridges of the deep

Oregon's ocean-bottom features, though unseen, are as rich and complex as the mountain, ridges and valleys of the land. A map of offshore features shows such tantalizing names as Astoria Fan, Daisy Bank, Heceta Valley and Klamath Bench. Step into the exhibit and sample a few underwater features for yourself!

The first of the walk through tanks included a glass covered hole in the floor so that you could look down as well as sideways and up.

Fish and the sea surface were visible to those who looked up.

Fish swam so close to the glass that they could be observed in detail.

A hole in the floor allowed the sandy sea bottom to be observed. A sign read,

Halibut Flats
Over sandy sea bottoms

On the flat, sandy sea floor, surging waves near the shore stir up the bottom and keep mud and sand suspended in the water. The shifting sand or soft mud of the sandy sea floor doesn't give plants much to get attached to, so this community is made up primarily of animals.

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Passages Of The Deep   •  An Exhibit Hall In The   •  Oregon Coast Aquarium   •  Newport Oregon   •  (Date Photographed: 11:55:39 Saturday 2 January 2016)   •  (Date Published: Saturday 30 January 2016)   •  © 2016 Bryan Costales #C16_5934
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The walk through tanks allowed visitors to view fish at all different angles. Folks were bundled up because of cold weather outside. Inside was comfortably warm.

Sharks swam by while lights were visible in the distance.

A woman photographed a shark with her phone from the safety and comfort of a dry interior.

Reflections off the aquarium wall gave the illusion of colorful fish in the water.

The mouth of an actual shark was on exhibit. A drawing behind of a shark with its mouth open lent the exhibit a 3D effect.