Seattle Aquarium Seattle Aquarium $113M, 50,000sqft Expansion expected to open in 2024

2 new videos dropped in the last month: Animal Care Stories episode 8 (the final episode) and a BTS look of the Animal Care Facility. In both videos you can see small snippets of the Juvinile Black Tip Reef Sharks, Leopard Whiptail Ray, Zebra Sharks, and more reef fish.
Still no word on when the OP will be opening, but progress is looking good.
 
Over on the "In the News" section of the Aquarium's website, they have a picture of a yellow form of the Giant Moray Eel (Gymnothorax javanicus) as the thumbnail picture for the segment that was on Kiro 7 news. This photo is from the Animal Care Center based on the background.
Supposedly there is also supposed to be a Tesselata / Honeycomb Moray on display as well, so maybe in the "At home in the Ocean" section there will be a walk in style aquarium for different species of Moray Eels like the one at Monterey Bay.
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Also, based on construction delays from last year such as the concrete strike, expect the Ocean Pavilion to open towards the tail end of Summer / Early September. (Just my thoughts)
 

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Giant moray is exciting, but man I would love to see it open!
Definitely, I've heard mixed things about the opening. In a Seattle Times article from just a few days ago, a spokesperson says a Summer opening is still possible, but from what I've heard, an early September opening is looking more likely just because of all the construction delays that popped up.
A person on Facebook got a look at the Roof Construction which looks pretty much done besides a few finishing touches.
The SPLASH Fundraiser Event managed to raise $830,000 which I think covers a majority of the remaining cost the Aquarium was hoping to cover through donations.
I heard from someone who did get a tour of the Animal Care Center that there are Seahorses at the facility. They didn't mention what species, but said "there were mountains of them" so that's pretty exciting.
Unfortunately after this Summer since I've graduated, I won't be an intern anymore so I won't have any insider info / be able to expand more on news releases so hopefully a bulk of the remaining news comes out soon / I'm able to get a tour of the facility or finished building.
 
They've started giving tours to volunteers and someone I know was able to sneak some pictures. I can't show the pictures themselves since they'd get in trouble, but you'll have to take my word for it.
This is for specifically the 'At home in the Ocean' section, which we've seen 0 photos of up to this point. I'm super excited to say that it looks almost exactly like the concept art, actually even cooler.
From what I can see, there are at least 3 big, curved window tanks. Each with their own lit up engraving in the wall that relates to what they're going to display which is awesome. The first one is "Can we be friends?" Right by the entrance of the gallery. Based off the words, I'm guessing this is either a big Community Reef Tank or going to be a big Clownfish & Anemone tank to show off their symbiotic relationship. (There's no fish or corals in most of the tanks yet)
The next is "Want to play hide & seek?", this is going to be a Cephalopod tank! It's awfully large for what I was assuming to be a group of Flamboyant cuttlefish, but they're actually not specified so we might see an Octopus or Squid species make an appearance (or bigger species of Cuttlefish). The bottom of the wall by the tank has an led that flashes different colors representing the color changes of Cephalopods.
The third is "Are you a night owl too?" Which is confirmed to be a Deepwater, Non-Photosynthetic Tank since there are a few Seafans already in there. I'm super excited for this one. I'm guessing a mix of Deepwater Basslets, Angelfish, Butterfly Fish, etc could be going in here to accommodate the corals.
The Garden Eels are also one of the few fish that are already in their displays, this is called "Want to see a magic trick?", mainly because they're super skiddish and need time to warm up. He says they're Spotted Garden Eels, and some kind of orange fish is in with them. (Edit: They're Pink Square Anthias (Male with what looks like 8 females)
There are also many smaller, individual tanks for species specific showcases.
Also a huge thing is the signage is in fact physical, and not digital. Thank goodness, that was a huge pet peeve of mine.

I need to sign up for one of the tours to go and see in person and ID some of the species already in. Huge thank you to my friend for getting the photos
 
Some cool updates I can talk about from the previous post:
•The "Can we be friends?" Tank will be a Clownfish & Anemone display that specifically wants to focus on captive bred fish and it's message of if you can choose captive bred, go for it (as a majority of Clownfish offered in the Aquarium Hobby are now captive bred)
•The "Want to play hide & seek?" Tank / Cephalopod tank will open with Flamboyant cuttlefish (presumably), but down the road (about a year after opening), the Aquarium does want to instead display either a Wunderpus or Big Fin Reef Squid shoal which would be amazing.
•While they're still working on the tank, I can say I'm 99% certain that the Seahorses that will be on display are the Yellow Seahorse (Hippocampus kuda). Reason being (allegedly) the Seahorses are coming from the "Grand Aquarium" at Ocean Park in Hong Kong, and as of March the 3 species they display are H. Kuda, the Potbelly Seahorse, and Weedy Seadragon. The latter two are Coldwater species, and while they could have their own system, I believe the Aquarium wants to keep everything tropical and H. Kuda ticks off every box.
•There's a section on the second floor called the "Shark Shelf' which is a resting spot for the Zebra Sharks, Bowmouth Guitarfish, and Rays that let's you get an upclose view of them.
•This is a really out there one but (allegedly) there are discussions of possibly adding a Sea Turtle (most likely Green) to 'The Reef' in the future as the Aquarium continues to expand the Sea Turtle rescue and rehabilitation project. Perhaps if one is deemed non-releaseable, it could find a home here. In perspective, Point Defiance Zoo houses 3 Green Sea Turtles in their 'Baja Bay' Tank which is about 30,000 gallons less than 'The Reef' so it shouldn't be an issue.
•The signage for 'The Reef' are actually interactive tablets you can press to view each species. Maybe they'll add physical signage towards the opening, like how Monterey Bay has both for their Open Sea tank.
 
I found someone who posted a quick walkthrough of the lower floor on Facebook (it looks like they're a construction worker so they may not be under the same restrictions) so I'm able to show off a few screenshots from that video.

-Also on a sidenote, it's confirmed that Seadragons are going to be a featured species! One of the tanks in the 'At home in the Ocean' has some signage for Seadragons. It doesn't mention a specific species at the moment. I'm guessing they'll most likely be Weedy Seadragons since they're the most common, but I did hear talks about Leafy Seadragons too which would be amazing so we'll have to wait and see.

-Photo 1: A quick view of the 'At home in the Ocean' gallery, this is the end part. That tank that's covered up at the moment is the Garden Eel tank.
-Photo 2: A first floor view of the 'Archipelago', you can also see what the video projections will look like.
-Photo 3: Supposedly this tank is going to be one of the deepwater tanks hence the blue lighting. I'm not sure what species could be in here but I'm hoping for Flashlight Fish. Last year I heard they weren't in consideration but maybe that's changed.
-Photo 4: A slight view of the main window for the 'The Reef'. The water is clearing up overtime, I believe some green dye was put in check the seams and for any leaks.

I'll be in the building this Thursday so I'll try and get any photos I can
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Was in the building today and gotta say, it's incredible. But now that I've gotten a look for myself, I can explain a few things.
  • According to the Seattle Times, the budget for the Ocean Pavilion was 170 Million.
  • Currently the only animals in the building are the Spotted Garden Eels (Heteroconger hassi) / Splendid or Orange Banded Garden Eels (Gorgasia preclara) / and Square Spot Anthias (Pseudanthias pleurotaenia). They all live together in one tank in 'At home in the Reef'
  • 'The Reef' holds at least 350,000 gallons which is confirmed. The number wasn't certain at first, and they're still calculating it, but it's at least 350,000.
  • The Mangrove Lagoon in the 'Archipelago' holds about 10,000 gallons.
  • The 'Inshore Reef' part of the 'Archipelago' holds about 20,000 gallons.
  • The coral in 'The Reef' are all fake models, but the coral in the 'Archipelago' and 'At home in the Ocean' are all real.
  • There's a mix of digital and physical signage around the building. The tablets are actually really cool, they separate everything into different categories for interactive opportunities. It goes by Animal type > shape > color then lists out some species on display that match those categories. After clicking on a species, it lists about a biography of the animal, it's location, habitat, diet, role in the ecosystem, and IUCN status.
  • There are various non-living display scattered around of native artifacts like paddles and signs, along with diving gear and plastic items that regularly are found as pollution in the ocean.
  • While going through the tablet signage, I found a few species that will be on display that haven't been mentioned before. These include the Snubnose Pompano (Trachinotus blochii) which based on it's geographic range, I'm guessing will be in the inshore reef habitat. / Scat fish (this one didn't have a biography filled out yet but I'm guessing it's Scatophagus argus as those are the most common. Probably going into the mangrove lagoon), Orbicular Batfish (Platax orbicularis) that will live in 'The Reef', and the Double Lined Fusilier (Pterocaesio digramma) which means there will be 2 species of Fusilier which is pretty cool.
  • Now onto the exhibits:

Exhibits |
There are 4 main exhibits and 2 smaller exhibits. I'll list them out and explain some more about them.
  • 'One Ocean Hall' | Number of tanks: 1 (technically 2 if you count the lower viewing window for the 'Inshore Reef' | One Ocean Hall is the center of the building that has all the projections playing on the walls and the stairs that lead up to the second floor. It's a really neat view because you can see almost every exhibit from just standing in this area. They refer to it as an exhibit but it's mostly interpretive stuff and visual things. There is one tank that is technically apart of it. This is in the right pillar that holds up the Mangrove Lagoon. It's a hole in the wall tank that will be for Seahorses and Pipefish (most likely Hippocampus kuda). This is called 'Into the Shallows' . On the left side, there is the first level viewing window for the 'Inshore Reef' tank, this is called the 'Into the Depths' viewing. It's not a deepwater tank like I originally was told, but this bottom part of the tank will have some corals that don't need as much light as the species that will be at the top.
  • 'At home in the Ocean' | Number of tanks: 12 | 'At home in the Ocean' is the species specific exhibit that's made up of 7 medium to large tanks that each have their own theme engraved into the architecture and 5 smaller tanks that are for animals who need to be housed alone because they're territorial and aggressive. I'll go through each of the 7 themed tanks.
  • 'Can we be friends?' tank is going to be a big Clownfish and Anemone harem tank that shows their symbiotic relationship. There will probably be a few other species in here.
  • "Want to play hide & seek?" tank is going to be for Seadragons! There's no specification on if they're Weedy Seadragons (probably) or Leafy Seadragons, but they're going to be on display.
  • "Want to hang out... or stay in?" tank is made to look like the inside of a cave with rocks everywhere besides the viewing windows. There is no word on what will be in here yet, but there's a sign inside the kid's tunnel viewing that says "Can you see us?" which makes me think this may be a Moray Eel tank or just another deepwater tank for nocturnal fish. I hope it's the former.
  • "Are you a night owl too?" tank is going to be the Non-Photosynthetic Reef tank. AKA a deepwater reef tank. The fish selection I heard isn't set yet, but deepwater butterflies, basslets, angelfishes, maybe even Flashlight Fish would be pretty cool.
  • "Can you read my mind?" tank is the Cephalopod tank. The signage is currently Flamboyant Cuttlefish which will most likely be there for the opening. This tank is on the smaller side so definitely no Bigfin Reef Squid in the future but a Wunderpus or Day Octopus as I heard talks of are definitely houseable.
  • "Watch Out!" tank is the venomous fish tank. Leaf Scorpionfish and a species of Lionfish will be in here for the opening.
  • "Want to see a magic trick?" is the Garden Eel tank.
I know one of the smaller tanks will be home to a pair of Coral Banded Shrimp. Some of the signs are still going up as species list's get finalized and start moving over, but I'd say anything that has a sign up so far (which includes the Seadragons) will more than likely be on display for the opening. I did hear talks that the seadragons were already at the offsite facility anyways.

  • 'The Archipelago' contains 2 tanks. One is the 'Mangrove Lagoon' and the other is the 'Inshore Reef'. Both of these tanks are lagoon style setups where you can get up close and look down into them.
  • The 'Mangrove Lagoon' holds around 10,000 gallons and will have Red Mangrove Trees at the center. This exhibit actually faces the Elliot Bay Window so it gets natural sunlight, and the blinds go up and down at different times of the day to mimic a natural light cycle. The 2 Blue Spotted Stingrays will live here, along with Epaulette Sharks (Hemiscyllium ocellatum) that were just confirmed today. Also live Seagrass, Giant Clams, Carpet Anemones I believe, various soft corals and smaller schooling fish.
  • The 'Inshore Reef' holds about 20,000 gallons and is 2 stories tall. Lots and lots of stony corals will make up a living reef and it'll be complimented by groups of various species of Butterflies, Angels, Damsels, Anthias, etc.
'The Reef' is the largest tank in the building at 350,000 gallons (minimum). There are 5 viewing windows which includes the Oculus window on the outside, the main window on the first floor, and 3 more windows on the second floor. This will house the rest of the Sharks, Rays, Bowmouth Guitarfish, and tons of large and schooling fish. Not really much to say about this tank other than it's amazing to see in person. And the lighting is actually pretty bright which will make for awesome photos.

Now the two smaller exhibits are next to the Archipelago and the Reef. This is the 'Jelly Nursery' and the 'Animal Care Lab'. The Jelly Nursery only has 1 tank which for the opening will house the Spotted Lagoon Jellies (species will rotate overtime), but it's a Jelly culture lab and shows how Jellyfish are propagated in aquariums. The Animal Care Lab is a giant quarantine facility that shows the public how animals are cared for and treated at AZA facilities and what goes into giving them the best care possible. There's smaller tanks for fish and inverts and a giant pool for Sharks, Rays, Turtles, etc whatever needs to be treated at that time. There's also piping and food prep areas. The wall is just a giant window with labels and diagrams that explain the different process of whatever is sitting behind that section. It's a really cool area I think a lot of people will enjoy and appreciate.

Edit: Want to play it safe and took down most of the photos I thought should be safe. Instead, here's a pic of the main viewing window for the Reef via Kiro 7, but this photo of mine should be harmless. An example of the tablet signage that's at every exhibit. 20240718_134553.jpg 20240718_143624.jpg
 

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I hope that they do some species which aren't as common or well-represented in aquariums.
On this note, I want to make a correction. Previously I stated that the "Australian Reticulated Whip Ray" would be the species on exhibit. Going through some photos I took, it's actually the Leopard Whipray (Himantura leoparda) which now thinking about it, makes a lot more sense because she (it is a female individual) was coming from I believe Ocean Park Hong Kong or an aquarium in Japan where they are on display (the last time it was mentioned was over a year ago so it's a little foggy). There weren't any clear upclose photos of her before seeing the signage so I assumed it was Himantura uarnak which is much more common. I believe this makes her one of the few H. leoparda in America, I can't find any photos or records on here about one in an American aquarium (besides Georgia since they have a profile on the species from 2018 but doesn't specify if they have one in collection right now). So that's a really neat rare species I wasn't expecting.
Edit: I'm just going off the signage that's uploaded already, it's labeled as H. Leoparda but it sounds like the species within the genus are really difficult to tell apart but from where it came from, I'm going to assume it correct

Other rarities off the top of my head are the female Bowmouth Guitarfish (I think 1 of 2 on the West Coast since I had no idea Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay had one until going through recent media on here), I'm hoping for Leafy Seadragons but most likely they'll be Weedy Seadragons which aren't as rare, Flamboyant Cuttlefish are arguably not that rare, some of the smaller reef fish species are pretty uncommon like the Pompano. I'm very interested to see what the species debut for the Non-Photosynthetic tanks will be. Hoping for some Sacura sp. Anthias, Odontanthias sp. Anthias, deepwater Butterflies, Angels, etc that are all rare in most public aquariums.
 
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On this note, I want to make a correction. Previously I stated that the "Australian Reticulated Whip Ray" would be the species on exhibit. Going through some photos I took, it's actually the Leopard Whipray (Himantura leoparda) which now thinking about it, makes a lot more sense because she (it is a female individual) was coming from I believe Ocean Park Hong Kong or an aquarium in Japan where they are on display (the last time it was mentioned was over a year ago so it's a little foggy). There weren't any clear upclose photos of her before seeing the signage so I assumed it was Himantura uarnak which is much more common. I believe this makes her one of the few H. leoparda in America, I can't find any photos or records on here about one in an American aquarium (besides Georgia since they have a profile on the species from 2018 but doesn't specify if they have one in collection right now). So that's a really neat rare species I wasn't expecting.
Edit: I'm just going off the signage that's uploaded already, it's labeled as H. Leoparda but it sounds like the species within the genus are really difficult to tell apart but from where it came from, I'm going to assume it correct

Other rarities off the top of my head are the female Bowmouth Guitarfish (I think 1 of 2 on the West Coast since I had no idea Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay had one until going through recent media on here), I'm hoping for Leafy Seadragons but most likely they'll be Weedy Seadragons which aren't as rare, Flamboyant Cuttlefish are arguably not that rare, some of the smaller reef fish species are pretty uncommon like the Pompano. I'm very interested to see what the species debut for the Non-Photosynthetic tanks will be. Hoping for some Sacura sp. Anthias, Odontanthias sp. Anthias, deepwater Butterflies, Angels, etc that are all rare in most public aquariums.

What I hope for, which is probably unrealistic despite their growing popularity, is larger deepwater species like flathead perch and my beloved Neptune grouper.
 
What I hope for, which is probably unrealistic despite their growing popularity, is larger deepwater species like flathead perch and my beloved Neptune grouper.
The Neptune groupers have been finding their way to some fish stores within the last year which is kinda interesting. There might be a chance with them hopefully.
Flathead Perch would be sick to see, Biota Aquaculture sometimes have captive bred babies for sale, not lately though but that'd be an ethical way to go for those. Hopefully I can get some more news about that tank here soon
 
Word of mouth is that 2 new species of Ray will also debut in the OP that weren't mentioned before. These are the Javanese Cownose Rays (Rhinoptera javanica) and the Blue Spotted Stingrays (Taeniura lymma).
I wasn't expecting either of these to be a featured species but it definitely makes sense. The Blue Spotted Stingrays will probably go into the Mangrove Tank & the Cownose Rays in 'The Reef'. Some of the concept art did show Cownose Rays in the tank, however I wasn't aware if that plan had gone through or not. Seems like it did. Pretty exciting since only a few Aquariums in the US I can find such as Steinhart display the Javanese Cownose Rays. The Blue Spots are listed near threatened and the Cownose Rays are listed as Vulnerable so they're most likely for conservation purposes. We'll have to see if they make it out for the grand opening debut.
 
Word of mouth is that 2 new species of Ray will also debut in the OP that weren't mentioned before. These are the Javanese Cownose Rays (Rhinoptera javanica) and the Blue Spotted Stingrays (Taeniura lymma).
I wasn't expecting either of these to be a featured species but it definitely makes sense. The Blue Spotted Stingrays will probably go into the Mangrove Tank & the Cownose Rays in 'The Reef'. Some of the concept art did show Cownose Rays in the tank, however I wasn't aware if that plan had gone through or not. Seems like it did. Pretty exciting since only a few Aquariums in the US I can find such as Steinhart display the Javanese Cownose Rays. The Blue Spots are listed near threatened and the Cownose Rays are listed as Vulnerable so they're most likely for conservation purposes. We'll have to see if they make it out for the grand opening debut.
In total, there will be around 110 species making their debut in OP. Many of them are new to the aquarium. 30 species give or take are Corals which means around 80 species will be Fish & Invertebrates (and plants but there's only 2 so far being Red Mangroves & Seagrass).

I'm already starting to compile the species list which will be it's own separate thread. Besides a few adjustments and additions, it should be ready to drop on August 18th.
 
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Do you know what species of eagle ray they have? Aetobatus narinari?
I was mistaken, the species of Eagle Ray are Aetobatus ocellatus , not Aetobatus narinari so they're going to be the true Indo-Pacific species and not their atlantic cousins.

Which also means the Eagle Rays at PDZA are actually Aetobatus ocellatus, and not A. narinari (the 3 males came from PDZA) so I have to fix that on the PDZA species list.
 
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Here's a new article that focuses on the creation of the Indo-Pacific coral reef inside the $160 million Ocean Pavilion. The first two photos really illustrate the size of the main tank.

From idea to ecosystem: Creating the Ocean Pavilion’s biggest habitat
Indeed, it's really jarring in person. I forgot mention there's 5 viewing windows for the main tank.
The Main Window: 1st floor viewing that shows almost the entire tank. There's a couple benches here and some shark jaws for educational purposes.
Oculus Window: The overhead viewing outside the front door that the public is able to look into, even if they don't buy a ticket. So it sits right out on the waterfront that people walking by can see.
Shark Shelf: an elevated area that gets you really close to Sharks and Rays that are resting on the sand. It educates guests about how some Sharks are able to pump water over there gills while resting so they don't need to be swimming 24/7.
Porthole Window: A circular window that has some rocks and coral in front of it so it's more shaded. This is to showcase any fish that might be hiding in the shadows (and allegedly some Morays that are able to hide here. In my mind, the Giant Moray I talked about earlier will probably go in the main tank so that makes sense.)
Outlook Window: A 2nd floor viewing area that let's you peer out and see the entire tank from front to back. It's an insane view.

I'll be back in the building tomorrow morning so there should be some new species as public opening is just less than a month away.
 
Lots of new fish went into the main tank the other day. Mainly Tangs, Fusiliers, Angels, Triggers, etc.
From what I know and what I could see, these include:
  • Over 250 Blue & Yellow Fusiliers (Caesio teres)
  • A large group of Dussumieri Tangs (Acanthurus dussumieri)
  • A large group of Naso Tangs (Naso lituratus)
  • A large group of Unicorn Tangs (Naso unicornis)
  • A large group of Fowleri Tangs (Acanthurus fowleri)
  • A group of Spotted Sweetlips (Plectorhinchus chaetodonoides)
  • A group of Emperor Angelfish (Pomacanthus imperator)
  • A group of Clown Triggerfish (Balistoides conspicillum)
  • A large group of Foxface Rabbitfish (Siganus vulpinus)
The rest of the larger fish (ex. Orbicular Batfish, Napolean Wrasse, Giant Moray probably), Schooling Fish (ex. Double-Lined Fusiliers), and the Sharks & Rays will be moving in over the next few weeks.
The Archipelago, Jelly Nursery, and At home in Ocean are still empty for the most part. Last minute construction is still going on in the front areas and walkways.
 
A large group of Bluestreak Cleaner Wrasses (Labroides dimidiatus) and Yellow Pyramid Butterfly Fish (Hemitaurichthys polylepis) went into the main tank the other day. Can't wait to get a picture of the cleaner wrasses cleaning the Elasmobranchs.

And word of mouth which does seem very likely given the medium sized tanks in 'At home in the Ocean' are that Slipper Lobsters and 1 other unique Invert species (I'm guessing and hoping it's a Peacock Mantis Shrimp) will be on display. Peacock Mantis Shrimp are very easy to get yet make for a cool species to display so I feel like that species has a good chance.
If we're sticking to strictly Indo-Pacific Species, the species of Slipper Lobster is looking like the Blunt Slipper Lobster (Scyllarides squammosus) which is wide spread throughout the Indo-Pacific and kept in Japanese Aquariums.

Our President of Life Sciences previously ran Ocean Park Hong Kong and has connections to Japan which is how we've been able to get some species that rarely kept outside of Asia like the Leopard Whipray. Hopefully it'll be the Blunt Slipper Lobsters, and not the Atlantic species as a substitute but I wouldn't be upset at that either way.
 
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