Sea Life Kansas City is an interactive
aquarium
An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...
located at the
Crown Center
Crown Center is a shopping center and neighborhood located near Downtown Kansas City, Missouri between Gillham Road and Main Street to the east and west, and between OK/E 22nd St and E 27th St to the north and south. The shopping center ...
in
Kansas City
The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...
,
Missouri
Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...
. The aquarium contains thousands of aquatic creatures, plus interactive touch pools and a 360° ocean tunnel. Sea Life Kansas City is owned and operated by
Merlin Entertainments
Merlin Entertainments Limited is a global entertainment company based in London, England, which operates a number of theme park resorts and other visitor attractions. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until November 2019, when it was ...
.
Main species
Conservation
Sea Life is involved with a number of conservation activities. These include:
Seahorse breeding
Sea Life has successfully bred and reared nine species of seahorse, helping prevent the breeds from becoming extinct. This means that no seahorses will be taken from the wild for their exhibitions, and they may be able to resupply seahorses if they become extinct in the wild.
Seal rescues
Sea Life works with seal sanctuaries to care for orphaned and injured seal pups. Over 100 seals are successfully rescued and returned to the wild each year.
Re-homing
Sea Life provides permanent homes for injured or disabled aquatic creatures who would have otherwise been killed or
euthanized
Animal euthanasia (euthanasia from ; "good death") is the act of killing an animal humanely, most commonly with injectable drugs. Reasons for euthanasia include incurable (and especially painful) conditions or diseases, lack of resources to con ...
.
Protection of turtles
A fundraising campaign run by Sea Life has enabled a new Sea Turtle Rescue and Wildlife Information Centre to be built on the Greek island of
Zakynthos
Zakynthos (also spelled Zakinthos; ; ) or Zante (, , ; ; from the Venetian language, Venetian form, traditionally Latinized as Zacynthus) is a Greece, Greek island in the Ionian Sea. It is the third largest of the Ionian Islands, with an are ...
to treat turtles which have been injured in collisions with pleasure craft or entanglement in
fishing gear
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...
.
References
{{Merlin Entertainments
Aquaria in Missouri
Sea Life Centres
Buildings and structures in Kansas City, Missouri
Tourist attractions in Kansas City, Missouri