SEA LIFE Charlotte-Concord is an interactive

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 at

Concord Mills Concord Mills is a shopping mall located in Concord, North Carolina. The mall is in Cabarrus County, just a few hundred feet from the Mecklenburg County border and Charlotte city limits, and about from Uptown Charlotte. It is one of two mal ...

Concord, North Carolina Concord is the county seat and largest city in Cabarrus County, in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 105,186, with an estimated population in 2021 of 107,697. In terms of population, the c ...

, a suburb of

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

. The aquarium contains thousands of aquatic creatures, plus an interactive touch pool and an 180° ocean tunnel. SEA LIFE Charlotte-Concord is owned and operated by

Merlin Entertainments Merlin Entertainments Limited is a British entertainment company based at Poole in Dorset, England. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until November 2019, when it was acquired by a consortium that includes Kirkbi A/S (the investme ...

Main species

{, class="wikitable" ,

Nurse Shark The nurse shark (''Ginglymostoma cirratum'') is an elasmobranch fish in the family Ginglymostomatidae. The conservation status of the nurse shark is globally assessed as Vulnerable in the IUCN List of Threatened Species. They are considered t ...

, Dog-Faced Puffer , Chocolate Chip Sea Star ,

Hermit Crab Hermit crabs are anomuran decapod crustaceans of the superfamily Paguroidea that have adapted to occupy empty scavenged mollusc shells to protect their fragile exoskeletons. There are over 800 species of hermit crab, most of which possess an as ...

, Angel Fish ,

Blacktip Reef Shark The blacktip reef shark (''Carcharhinus melanopterus'') is a species of requiem shark, in the family Carcharhinidae, which can be easily identified by the prominent black tips on its fins (especially on the first dorsal fin and its caudal fin). ...

, Clown Trigger Fish , Atlantic Ray ,

Cownose Ray 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 considered ...

Jellyfish Jellyfish and sea jellies are the informal common names given to the medusa-phase of certain gelatinous members of the subphylum Medusozoa, a major part of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish are mainly free-swimming marine animals with umbre ...

Clownfish Clownfish or anemonefish are fishes from the subfamily Amphiprioninae in the family Pomacentridae. Thirty species of clownfish are recognized: one in the genus '' Premnas'', while the remaining are in the genus '' Amphiprion''. In the wild, t ...

Green Sea Turtles The green sea turtle (''Chelonia mydas''), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle or Pacific green turtle, is a species of large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus ''Chelonia''. Its range exten ...

, Lionfish ,

Sea Star Starfish or sea stars are star-shaped echinoderms belonging to the class Asteroidea (). Common usage frequently finds these names being also applied to ophiuroids, which are correctly referred to as brittle stars or basket stars. Starfish a ...

Cleaner Shrimp Cleaner shrimp is a common name for a number of swimming decapod crustaceans, that clean other organisms of parasites. They belong to any of three families, Hippolytidae (including the Pacific cleaner shrimp, ''Lysmata amboinensis''), Pala ...

, Yellow Tang Fish , Blue Tang Fish

Conservation

SEA LIFE is involved with a number of conservation activities.

Seahorse breeding

SEA LIFE has successfully bred and reared nine species of seahorse, helping prevent the breeds from becoming extinct. This means that no seahorses will ever be taken from the wild for their exhibitions, and they may be able to resupply seahorses if they become extinct in the wild.

Seal rescues

SEA LIFE works with seal sanctuaries to care for orphaned and injured seal pups. Over 100 seals are successfully rescued and returned to the wild each year.

Re-homing

SEA LIFE provides permanent homes for injured or disabled aquatic creatures who would have otherwise been killed or

euthanized Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from el, εὐθανασία; "good death") is the act of killing an animal or allowing it to die by withholding extreme medical measures. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditio ...

Protection of turtles

A fundraising campaign run by SEA LIFE has enabled a new Sea Turtle Rescue and Wildlife Information Centre to be built on the Greek island of

Zakynthos Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; el, Ζάκυνθος, Zákynthos ; it, Zacinto ) or Zante (, , ; el, Τζάντε, Tzánte ; from the Venetian form) is a Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands. Z ...

to treat turtles who have been injured in collisions with pleasure craft or entanglement in fishing gear.

References

{{Merlin Entertainments

Aquaria in North Carolina {{Portal, United States This category is for public aquariums in North Carolina, United States. Zoos in North Carolina North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th lar ...

Sea Life Centres Concord, North Carolina Buildings and structures in Cabarrus County, North Carolina Tourist attractions in Cabarrus County, North Carolina