There are many museums, zoos, botanic gardens, and other institutions that are good at translating their educational and preservational assets to social media. And then there’s the Monterey Bay Aquarium and its oceanic lo-fi livestreams.
Monterey Bay is an internationally respected aquarium that real nerdy-ass fuckin’ nerds will know as the shot-on-location stand-in for the Maritime Cetacean Institute as featured in Star Trek IV: The One With the Whales. But tucked away in California’s central coast, a drive of two hours or more from the closest big city, San Francisco, it’s on the museum’s staff to make their institution accessible to the wide world that might never visit.
And Monterey Bay’s YouTube team? They’re doing impeccable work. Getting scientists to stream sea-themed video games that run the gamut from chill scuba diving sim Endless Ocean Luminous to the “crustacean-themed ‘Soulslike’” Another Crab’s Treasure. Chill model-painting streams of 3D-printed sea creature models. A livestreamed 24th birthday party for the world’s oldest known sea otter!
But where Monterey Bay’s content team really excels is in its devotion to the vitally important category of “Second Monitor Videos.” Any aquarium can point a camera at a tank and livestream it. But the Monterey Bay Aquarium is adding curated track lists and — most importantly — punny titles and a tongue-in-cheek attitude. There’s “Krill Waves Radio” and “Littoral Relaxocean” and an April Fools’ stream of head-banging skeleton shrimp set to actually pretty listenable, productivity-motivating metal music.
