Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium
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Shark tunnel at the aquarium
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| Date opened | 1996 |
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| Location | Mall of America, Bloomington, Minnesota, United States |
| Coordinates | 44°51′15″N 93°14′32″W / 44.85417°N 93.24222°WCoordinates: 44°51′15″N 93°14′32″W / 44.85417°N 93.24222°W |
| Land area | 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2) |
| No. of animals | 10,000+ |
| Volume of largest tank | 500,000 US gallons (1,900,000 l) |
| Total volume of tanks | 1,200,000 US gallons (4,500,000 l) |
| Website | www |
Sea Life Minnesota Aquarium is a public aquarium located in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States. It is home to thousands of aquatic creatures, including a large collection of sharks, sea turtles, stingrays and freshwater fish. The 1,200,000-US-gallon (4,500,000 l) aquarium also features sea turtles, octopuses, and lobsters. Freshwater exhibits include game fish from the northern region of the United States, several giant catfish and a 180-pound (82 kg) alligator gar from the southern United States.
The aquarium includes a 300-foot (91 m) clear acrylic tunnel that lets visitors explore the underwater world while remaining dry. The thickness and curvature of the glass makes the animals appear about 20% smaller.
The aquarium at the Mall of America was opened in 1996 under the name Underwater World. The aquarium took 18 months to build. 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 Centres in March 2011.
In the summer of 2009, the aquarium debuted a brand new exhibit, Seahorse Kingdom, as well as a brand new touch pool for guests to interact more with sea life. This touch pool will be replaced with two new ones following the renaming.
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, including: a Caribbean tank, featuring Moray Eels and Lionfish, Ray Lagoon, an interactive Stingray exhibit, touch pools, Garden Eels, a new Octopus, and Harbor exhibit.
In March 2012, Mysteries of the Rainforest was opened and features many new species of live animals, including: Spectacled Caiman, Poison Dart Frogs, Tortoises, Piranha and more.
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