Taken 5-13-25. This aquarium in Seward, Alaska has 34 live animal exhibits by my count. It also has a large number of rehab and study enclosures viewable from the visitor area.
Thanks for uploading almost 100 photos of this aquarium into the gallery. Were you impressed with what you saw? Where does it slot in within your rankings?
I ranked it at #53 of the 71 aquarium facilities I have visited, this seabird habitat with its deep underwater viewing for diving birds (and many fish) was definitely the highlight, followed by the well-stocked and staffed 'Rocky Coast Discovery Pools'. Other than the two pinniped habitats, the other exhibits were average-sized and a bit understocked...ironically, the 8 tiny tanks of the 'A Closer Look' exhibit row were crowded with inhabitants! If I ranked aquariums by their scenic locations, this one would be near the top of the list as the views of Resurrection Bay were awesome! I have to admit to rushing through the facility to take photos early (you know how I am) before the majority of my fellow cruise ship passengers descended en masse (it turned out not to be too crowded later but I had my suspicions.) I did not even make a species list. It was nice to finally be visiting and photographing an aquarium, the last one before this was San Antonio's SEA LIFE about 2-1/2 years ago!
@geomorph since you mentioned Sea Life San Antonio, how is that one compared to the other sea lifes? Its strange that its the only American one that is not AZA accredited and it also needs to compete with the San Antonio Aquarium (which I heard is pretty bad) and possibly SeaWorld SA, although I'm not sure they have much fish in that location. Also wouldn't mind seeing some of your photos from that visit
@SusScrofa the SEA LIFE San Antonio is comparable to the Arizona, Charlotte, Grapevine, and Orlando locations that I have also been to; I visited the Minnesota one both before and after its ownership change and it is quite different than the others, although all feature indoor-only locations and lighting. I rank them all pretty close together, behind most stand-alone facilities but above many zoo-location aquariums. I see that the gallery for San Antonio was never created, I think I had photos to upload for it but eventually gave up because there was a moratorium on creating new galleries at the time?
@geomorph Thanks for that info! Unfortunately, new galleries have not been created in nearly 3 years and at this point who knows if it will ever return. There is the 'United States - Other' folder that can be used for facilities which don't have a folder. Many members including myself have been using it since the freeze, although its become very cluttered now.
