It's truly amazing that an exhibit that opened in 2006 (only 15 years ago!) could honestly be called awful these days. The size of the pool is okay, with the underwater tunnel a nice addition for visitors, but where is the grass or natural substrate? That tiny rock mound is inadequate for bears, but I'm not sure that Pittsburgh Zoo can even really do anything with this exhibit due to space constraints.
@snowleopard It's that new? Yikes. The rock area is awful, especially considering it's the first thing you see of the entire pier area when you leave the aquarium. I love the pier theming but there is way too much faux rock in this exhibit. The tunnel would be fantastic if they didn't have just one very old bear who's rarely out in the exhibit, much less in the water.
If they don't get more polar bears when she passes, I hope they'll scrap most of the rock and make this another sea lion pool, or make this the elephant seal one. The one pool they have is much too small for the number of animals in it.
