A US$42m (€37.1m, £33.4m), education centre being built at Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, US, is close to completion.

The four storey centre will allow the aquarium to extend its marine science programs for thousands of children and teachers and help improve local science literacy.

Called the Bechtel Family Center for Ocean Education, it is due to open in Q2 2019 and has been mainly funded by Silicon Valley and donors in California’s Bay Area.

It represents the most significant expansion project the aquarium has undertaken since 1996 when it grew by in size 43 per cent with its then-new Outer Bay wing.

"Our goal is to create the next generation of young leaders who are ocean-literate, confident and ready to act," said Julie Packard, the aquarium’s executive director.

Speaking on the educational improvements it can make in the area, Rita Bell, the aquarium’s vice president of education said: "The kids don’t have to be a marine biologist. We want to show them all the other career opportunities and feed that passion. We want to help them find their voice. ‘What’s important to me and how do I get that out?’

"If kids learn about the ocean, they are learning about more than the ocean – everything from math to reading."

The centre, once open, will have five classrooms, a number of video monitors and eight 200-gallon saltwater tanks filled with sea urchins, starfish, abalone, snails, anemones, kelp crabs and other marine species.