Alex and Yana Yanovsky worked in the aquarium business in Ukraine for more than 20 years. Whenever they added a jellyfish tank to one of their aquariums, visitors gravitated toward it more than any other sea creature, so they opened a museum dedicated to the gelatinous creatures in Kyiv.
During the 2022 Russian invasion, the husband and wife had to flee the city and resettle in Florida, where they set out to bring their dream of a jellyfish museum to the United States.
“When we saw the ocean, we decided this is exactly the place for the jellyfish museum,” said Yana Yanovsky, 47.
This past spring, she and her husband Alex Yanovsky, 52, opened what they believe is the first museum in the U.S. devoted entirely to jellyfish. The museum, located in Pompano Beach, houses over 20 species across 21 tanks. The entry fee is around $20 to $24.
“Jellyfish are incredible creatures,” Yana Yanovsky said. “They are absolutely something different; they are not like anything else.”
Some species, she said, have as many as 24 eyes. Others, like the “immortal jellyfish,” can restart their life cycle and essentially age in reverse. It’s a species the Yanovskys are hoping to add to their own museum collection.
So far, the Yanovskys said, the response from visitors has exceeded expectations.
“They are fascinated with what they see,” Yana Yanovsky said.
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