Back in 2015, a study conducted by the National Marine Aquarium, the University of Plymouth and the University of Exeter found compelling evidence that “doses” of exposure to underwater settings could have a positive impact on people’s wellbeing.
The coronavirus pandemic seems to be a testament to these findings as more and more closed aquariums report big increases in web traffic due to their exhibit webcams.
Since California’s Monterey Bay aquarium closed to the public in March, the number of visitors to its website has tripled compared to the previous year. Nearly 80% of traffic goes to its 10 live webcams, with the sea otter, jellyfish and shark exhibits proving the most popular.
“People watch them religiously,” said Dana Allen-Greil, Monterey Bay aquarium’s director of digital strategy. “They email us and say ‘I eat breakfast every morning with the sea otters’ – it becomes part of their daily life.”
Georgia aquarium recorded an approximate 3,000 percent increase in daily traffic to its webcams at the start of lockdown in mid-March, in particular to its 6.3m-gallon whale shark tunnel.
A spokeswoman for the National Aquarium in Baltimore said it saw “a large spike” to its blacktip reef shark, coral reef, and jellyfish live streams, with anecdotal evidence that visitors were seeking stress relief.
Watching live streams of underwater worlds has also been popular among teachers’ suggested self-care routines for students. “Students were worried and anxious, and quite a few of them told me that watching the webcams helped them focus and calm down,” said Laura Reeve, a middle-school teacher in Santa Cruz, CA.
The restorative role of aquariums has been documented in a 2018 study: “In today’s increasingly stressful world, quick and easy access to restorative environments that promote positive emotions and help reduce stress may be essential, especially for people who have few, if any, chances to engage with the natural world.”
If you wish to take a soothing break from working at home, follow the source article to find a list of different aquariums you can visit from your armchair.
