The focus of the exhibit is the environment of Washington's outer coast; it's modeled after the Neah Bay area. Aquarium divers made multiple trips to that area over the past months to collect marine life; everything from fish and sea stars to mussels, sea anemones and cup corals. Artists sculpted imitation mussels, barnacles and carefully painted the artificial rocks in places to duplicate sponges and algae. Eventually, genuine versions of all these creatures will spread to cover the exhibit "rocks".

As a diver holding advanced open water certification, I've had the good fortune to dive in many exciting places. But I was no less excited when I entered the Aquarium's Window on Washington Waters. Connected to the surface with an air hose and wearing a backup tank more typical of scuba dives, I also was able to hear and talk with other divers and biologists on the surface. The realism of the created environment is stunning...and the proximity and even curiosity of the fish, huge mussels (the real ones) and colorful sea anemones the size of dinner plates amazed me. I had to watch myself to avoid babbling with excitement.

It will be fascinating to see how the exhibit evolves as the marine life expands. We'll appreciate that only by repeated visits...and I hope...dives. Appreciation is a major goal of the aquarium's expansion and work; not just of the Window on Washington Waters exhibit, but of the complexity and beauty of our underwater environment, one we often forget or don't even suspect is there. It's harder to motivate northwest residents to conserve something they don't know. The Aquarium's goal is to provide the knowledge, the sense of connection to visitors that will lead all of us to act in ways that will preserve our environment...both above and underwater.