The Coast Gallery displays some of the animals who live under the water along South Carolina’s coastline. Fish living in Charleston Harbor, such as sea horses, flounder and stingrays, can be seen in the Coast Gallery’s exhibits. Other exhibits test the visitor’s knowledge of shells, show just what is making those holes in the sand on the beach and let visitors see how local shrimpers help to protect sea turtles.

Exhibit Fun Facts

Featured Animal: Loggerhead Sea Turtle
Fact: After hatching and making a mad scramble across the beach, male sea turtles spend their entire lives in the ocean (The females make only brief returns to the beaches to lay their eggs).
Location: Loggerhead Exhibit

Featured Animal: Octopus
Fact: An octopus ejects ink to escape from predators. The ink has an eye irritant, as well as other chemicals that disrupt the predator’s sense of smell and balance.
Location: Camouflage Exhibit

Featured Animal: Sea Horses
Fact: Unlike pretty much every other animal on the planet, in seahorses the male carries the fertilized eggs until they hatch.
Location: Sea Horses Exhibit

Featured Animal: Flounder
Fact: When flounder are about three weeks old, one of their eyes migrates across their head to join the other eye on the same side of its head where it stays for the rest of their lives.
Location: Camouflage Exhibit