The Museum's permanent exhibits deal mainly with the native plants, animals, geology, and aboriginal populations of Monterey County.
The Main Room is located on the ground floor of the old wing, and it is dominated by an exhibit of Monterey County birds. This exhibit contains 409 life-mounted birds representing 291 species, newly labeled, expanded, and arranged in taxonomic sequence. A large trilingual exhibit on the Monarch Butterfly is displayed in the center of the room. This exhibit includes a short video about the life cycle of these unusual butterflies.
The adjacent Native American Room displays exhibits of California Native American artifacts, about half of which are from Monterey County. The displays focus on the Ohlone, Salinan, and Esselen tribes of our area. This room also contains a relief map of Monterey County topography.
The Cetacean Room is located just off of the Main Room, and it contains marine mammal artifacts and photographs, including a Killer Whale skeleton and the large jawbone of a Humpback Whale which are suspended from the ceiling. Many recorded whale sounds are available at the push of a button.
The Museum Gift Shop is located in a small room adjacent to the Main Room. The Gift Shop sells a wide variety of natural history items including books, posters, puzzles, games, toys, puppets, minerals, fossils, and postcards.
The upstairs Mezzanine of the old wing houses an extensive exhibit on mollusks, including a giant squid. There is also a large exhibit on Monterey County geology, paleontology, and mineralogy, with an enclosed booth devoted to fluorescent minerals. Exhibits on mammals, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, fishes, skulls, and extinct species are also located in this area. The latest additions to this section are a large exhibit featuring endangered species of the Monterey Bay dunes, and an exhibit devoted to local climate and biodiversity.
The exhibits on the second floor of the new wing are devoted to insects. A wall case contains a taxonomically arranged survey of the orders of insects, with notes on types of metamorphosis. A small exhibit diorama and a large photographic panel illustrate wintering clusters of Monarchs. A large television monitor is also located in this area which is used to display a variety of natural history videos.
The ground floor of the new wing contains the Children's Touch Gallery. Here a variety of hands-on specimens and books are presented in an educational setting for young children. A crawl-through burrow complete with examples of local underground animals is a popular recent addition to this area. Located next to the Children's Touch Gallery, the Monterey Bay subtidal exhibit features fascinating live animals from our nearshore environment. Restrooms, a drinking fountain, and the temporary exhibit hall are also located on this floor.
The Museum also has an extensive outdoor native plant garden that features native wildflowers in season, along with bushes and trees which are native to the local area. Plants are labeled with common and scientific names for ease of identification.
Easily the most popular exhibit at the Museum for younger visitors is the life-size sculpture of an adult female Gray Whale that rests in front of the building. Children can be seen climbing on "Sandy" the Gray Whale throughout the day.
Many of the Museum's other permanent exhibits are constantly being updated or remodeled to incorporate the latest scientific information, so come in and find out what's new!