My biggest gripe with SEA LIFE aquariums is that they are all basically the same. The differences in the Mall of America facility are evident pretty quickly. Unlike the previous three that I'd visited, this had a section dedicated to the Amazon (a geographic cliché in many large public aquariums, to be sure, but not one that I'd seen in a SEA LIFE). To be fair, it wasn't anything grand - no walk through rainforest with birds swooping overhead and sloths and monkeys in the tree. It consisted of a series of tanks for red-bellied piranha, freshwater angelfish, and common caiman, with smaller jewel cases for dart frogs and tarantulas. It wasn't anything to blow your mind in terms of unique exhibitry (though I was perplexed by the acrylic bubble allowing visitors to pop-up in the land portion of the caiman exhibit), but it was different.
The Amazon adventure is continued in the first stage of the main attraction at the facility, a 300-foot tunnel which leads through a variety of aquatic habitats. One of which, as I just mentioned, is the Amazon, with a familiar cast of giant South American fish, such as arapaima, silver arowana, black pacu, and freshwater stingrays. Another section is a nod to the wildlife of the nearby Great Lakes, dominated by sturgeon, carp, paddlefish, and muskie. There is a coral reef ecosystem with puffers, tangs, and other small, colorful fish.
And, of course, there is the obligatory shark tunnel, a SEA LIFE staple. Of course, this SEA LIFE is bigger than its sibling facilities, and as a result, its sharks are too. There are blacktip and whitetip reef sharks, the species seen at the other facilities, but also sand tiger sharks, nurse sharks, zebra sharks, and, to my intense surprise in the setting, green sawfish and guitarfish, the later two being considerable rarities in most aquariums. Again, the exhibits were nothing really remarkable if you've been to any of the major public aquariums, but for a city where the nearest such facility is hours away and experience with them limited, it was probably a cool feature.
The remainder of the aquarium post-tunnel is divided into a series of small galleries for species which don't lend themselves to mixed-species tanks with tunnels - seahorses (including weedy seadragons), jellyfish, smaller reef fish - and touch tanks - one a Pacific tidal pool, the other a stingray feeding encounter. Exit through the giftshop.
If I were to recommend visiting a single US SEA LIFE (I'm told the international branches tend to be larger and more complete), it would have to be this one in terms of the scope of its collection and its exhibits (which, while not breathtaking, are still more impressive than its sister aquariums). At the same time, it reminded me of some of the things about the aquarium chain that irk me so much. Not the animals and exhibits - I freely admit that I'm a snob and that most aquarium visitors aren't, and aren't going to be bothered by comparisons to other aquariums because they won't have been to nearly as many. Instead, it's the experience. The layout - including the heavy emphasis on tunnels - pushes the visitor through like they're on a conveyer belt. It discourages double-backing, lingering, and exploring. I get much more enjoyment out of wide open aquariums that let the visitor run amok, much circling back to see what an animal is doing now.
The center of the Mall of America is dominated by a mini-indoor amusement park, full of all sorts of rides for kids (it was sort of my impression that these days the rest of the mall serves to support the amusement park, rather than the other way around). Walking through it on my way in search of something to eat after the aquarium, it struck me that in some ways, SEA LIFE felt more like a ride than the kind of aquarium experience that I normally enjoy to linger in.
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