Sea Life at Mall of America (formally known as Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium) is a public

aquarium An aquarium (plural: ''aquariums'' or ''aquaria'') is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aq ...

located in the

Mall of America Mall of America (MOA) is a large shopping mall located in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States. Located within the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area, the mall lies southeast of the junction of Interstate 494 and Minnesota State Highway ...

Bloomington, Minnesota Bloomington is a suburban city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, on the north bank of the Minnesota River, above its confluence with the Mississippi River, south of downtown Minneapolis. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 89,987, ma ...

, United States. The 1.3 million-US-gallon (4.9 ML) aquarium contains thousands of aquatic creatures, including

sea turtles Sea turtles (superfamily Chelonioidea), sometimes called marine turtles, are reptiles of the order Testudines and of the suborder Cryptodira. The seven existing species of sea turtles are the flatback, green, hawksbill, leatherback, loggerhead, ...

, sharks, sawfish, stingrays, jellyfish and

seahorses A seahorse (also written ''sea-horse'' and ''sea horse'') is any of 46 species of small marine fish in the genus ''Hippocampus''. "Hippocampus" comes from the Ancient Greek (), itself from () meaning "horse" and () meaning "sea monster" or " ...

. There are eleven exhibits featured at the aquarium. The aquarium is highlighted by a 360° clear acrylic tunnel, which consists of four different areas housing both freshwater and salt water creatures.

History

The aquarium at the

was opened in 1996 under the name UnderWater World after 18 months of construction. In 2000, the re-opening of the aquarium changed its name to Underwater Adventures Aquarium. In 2008, the aquarium became a part of British-based Merlin Entertainments group of attractions, and was rebranded as a Sea Life Centre in March 2011. In the summer of 2009, the aquarium debuted the exhibit Seahorse Kingdom. In March 2010, Jellyfish Discovery was opened as the largest jellyfish exhibit worldwide. In March 2011, SeaLife officially completed the transition to a Merlin Entertainments' Sea Life Centre, and was renamed Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium. The re-brand featured updated theming throughout the aquarium and many new exhibits.

Exhibits

Brave the Rainforest features multiple pop up tanks to allow visitors to get closer to the creatures and a Ranger Stage with extra facts and animals. The rainforest features spectacled caiman, poison dart frogs, piranhas, freshwater angelfish and other exotic species. The Tunnel, a 360° acrylic tunnel that goes through four exhibits: Sturgeon Lake, Wild Amazon, Shark Cove and Rainbow Reef. *Sturgeon Lake is a fresh water exhibit designed to simulate a Minnesotan body of water, and features turtles, gar,

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, lake and

shovelnose sturgeon The shovelnose sturgeon (''Scaphirhynchus platorynchus'') is the smallest species of freshwater sturgeon native to North America. It is often called "hackleback", "sand sturgeon", or "switchtail". Switchtail refers to the long filament found on ...

common carp The Eurasian carp or European carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), widely known as the common carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Arkive The ...

, smallmouth buffalo, tiger muskie,

channel catfish The channel catfish (''Ictalurus punctatus'') is North America's most numerous catfish species. It is the official fish of Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Nebraska, and Tennessee, and is informally referred to as a "channel cat". In the United States, the ...

, and paddlefish, among others. The exhibit also features alligator gars, which are not found naturally in Minnesota. *Wild Amazon consists of arapaima, arowanas,

black pacu Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

, midas cichlids, fossil catfish,

pictus catfish ''Pimelodus pictus'', also known as the pictus cat or pictus catfish, is a small ( TL) member of the catfish family Pimelodidae, native to the Amazon and Orinoco river basins and commonly kept as a pet in freshwater aquariums. Pictus catfish ar ...

, leopard catfish, tiger shovelnose catfish, plecos, flagtails, silver dollars, and freshwater stingrays. *Shark Cove is themed to look like a shipwreck, and with a volume of it is the largest exhibit in the aquarium. Shark Cove holds multiple shark species including: Sand tiger sharks, Nurse sharks, Brown shark, Whitetip reef sharks, and

Zebra shark The zebra shark (''Stegostoma tigrinum'') is a species of carpet shark and the sole member of the family Stegostomatidae. It is found throughout the tropical Indo-Pacific, frequenting coral reefs and sandy flats to a depth of . Adult zebra sharks ...

s. It also contains southern stingrays, giant shovel-nosed guitarfish, and

green sawfish The longcomb sawfish, narrowsnout sawfish or green sawfish (''Pristis zijsron'') is a species of sawfish in the family Pristidae, found in tropical and subtropical waters of the Indo-West Pacific. It has declined drastically and is now considered ...

and two Loggerhead sea turtles. In addition, it has groupers, red snappers, red drums, pork fish, jacks, permits, and other species. *Rainbow Reef which resembles

coral reefs A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of Colony (biology), colonies of coral polyp (zoology), polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, wh ...

, has stingrays, puffer fish, assorted tangs, bamboo sharks and others. The Coral Caves hold live coral and fish such as clownfish and

regal blue tang ''Paracanthurus hepatus'' is a species of Indo-Pacific surgeonfish. A popular fish in marine aquaria, it is the only member of the genus ''Paracanthurus''. A number of common names are attributed to the species, including regal tang, palette sur ...

. Seahorse Kingdom features seahorses. Jellyfish Discovery features moon jellyfish. Ray Lagoon features a ray pool full of

cownose stingray The cownose ray (''Rhinoptera bonasus'') is a species of Batoidea found throughout a large part of the western Atlantic and Caribbean, from New England, United States to southern Brazil (the East Atlantic populations are now generally considere ...

Atlantic stingray The Atlantic stingray (''Dasyatis sabina'') is a species of stingray in the family Dasyatidae, common along the Atlantic coast of North America from Chesapeake Bay to Mexico, including brackish and freshwater habitats. It may be distinguished fr ...

, southern stingray,

shovelnose guitarfish The shovelnose guitarfish, ''Rhinobatos productus'', is a ray in the family Rhinobatidae. It becomes mature at an estimated seven to eight years old. Males are between 90 and 100 cm long, while females are around 99 cm at that age.

and other rays. Pacific Northwest Rockpool features a touch pool full of assorted anemone, sea stars,

sea urchins Sea urchins () are spiny, globular echinoderms in the class Echinoidea. About 950 species of sea urchin live on the seabed of every ocean and inhabit every depth zone from the intertidal seashore down to . The spherical, hard shells (tests) of ...

, and

prawns Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature ...

References

External links

* * {{Merlin Attractions, state=collapsed Aquaria in Minnesota Buildings and structures in Bloomington, Minnesota Tourist attractions in Hennepin County, Minnesota