As a landlubber, I’m often too busy chasing the biodiversity that surrounds me on terra firma to give much thought to what goes on below the water’s surface. Luckily, two movies currently playing at two different Balboa Park museums go to great depths to show what I’ve been missing.

The first film, Galapagos at the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center takes audiences to the remote islands and surrounding waters made famous by Charles Darwin. The domed IMAX format film brings viewers face-to-face with the islands’ giant tortoises, marine iguanas, and unique birds before plunging them deep into the waters Darwin never saw.

There, sea lion pups frolic while hammerhead sharks lurk and moray eels play hide and seek with the camera crew and biologist Dr. Carole Baldwin. Then, in a deep sea submersible we follow the good doctor 3,000 feet below the surface to observe fantastic creatures never before seen by human or canine eyes.

Another underwater adventure, Turtle Reef, awaits visitors in the Natural History Museum’s giant-screen 3D theater. Using the graceful Hawaiian green turtle as its screen-popping centerpiece, this film follows a day in the life of various creatures that live along Hawaii’s majestic coral reefs.

From dawn to dusk and to dawn again, audiences see the unique symbiotic relationships among the colorful fish, crustaceans, and plant life that ensure no food is wasted and everyone gets a good bath, thanks of course to all the resourceful cleaner fish (the deep sea’s answer to the household pet).