The Perfect Catch



The happy couple after feeding stingrays.

 July 11, 2011, was the first day of Nicole and Trever's life together, and it started in a rather unusual place: under a sea of 10,000 sea creatures. That's right! Yesterday, Nicole and Trever tied the knot within SEA LIFE Minnesota's 300ft tunnel, accompanied by friends, family, sharks, and sea turtles!

Nicole and Trever always wanted a wedding on a beach, but with the economic downturn and a tight budget, they turned to the next best option: getting married under 10,000 sea creatures at SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium!

The nontraditional couple drew attention to their surroundings by beginning their vows, "before these witnesses both human and fish". Trever and Nicole gladly repeated each word after their friend, and ordained minister, before turning toward each other to say "I do"!

After the ceremony, the newly weds did not throw rice to celebrate the occasion; instead, they sprinkled capelin over the side of our stingray tank!

Watch Nicole and Trever's exciting wedding adventure on our YouTube page.

Thank you so much to Nicole and Trever for sharing this special day with all of us at SEA LIFE Minnesota!

Protect our Oceans

Just because we live in Minnesota, and need to travel thousands of miles to even see the ocean, does not mean there is nothing we can do to help save it! 

What most people don’t realize is how dependent we are upon the ocean. According to national geographic, the ocean regulates the climate and gives us more than half the oxygen we need. At SEA LIFE, we want to reward our Facebook fans for their conservational efforts. So, what can we do to protect our oceans? Here is a list of ideas for your story, video, and picture entries for our latest Facebook contest:

• Leave the car at home and take public transportation instead
• Make conscious energy choices at home and work
• Switch to fluorescent light bulbs
• Use a fan or blanket rather than oversetting your thermostat
• Choose seafood that is sustainable
• Switch to reusable bags to save on plastic products
• Recycle
• Participate in beach clean-ups
• Donate money to an environmental organization
• Volunteer

The truth is: each one of us (including myself) has habits that we can change in order to help protect the ocean and its marine life. YOU can make a difference!!

Click here for more information about our current Facebook contest. By participating in any of the above conservational efforts, or coming up with something on your own, you will be entereted to win the perfect prize pack for the ultimate Conservational Advocate: 4 SEA LIFE passes, a guided tour through the aquarium, a behind-the-scenes tour, and a meet and greet with our animal curator!

-KS

Giant Pacific Octopus

After visiting the Ray Lagoon and Rockpool exhibits, guests at the SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium will come across one of our most intelligent sea creatures - the Giant Pacific Octopus! They are smart enough to solve simple problems, like finding their way through mazes and unscrewing jar lids to get to the food inside. They also have a very creative defense mechanism - if a Giant Pacific Octopus feels threatened, it will release a cloud of black ink to obscure the attacker's view and sense of smell, giving the octopus time to escape.

These sea creatures have some very cool anatomical features, such as three hearts and blue blood! While shrimp, clams and small fish are usually a Giant Pacific Octopus's favorite food, they have been known to attack sharks, and even birds, with their sharp, beaklike mouths that they used to puncture and tear flesh.

In the wild, a Giant Pacific Octopus will usually only live for three to five years, but during that time they can grow to be about 16 feet across and weigh 110 pounds!

The Aquarium doors are open!

In response to the Minnesota government shutdown, the SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium has decided to open its doors to all recently laid off state employees! The 22,000 state workers who are out of work as of today, July 1st, can visit the aquarium for free from now until the state is back up and running - all they need is a copy of their lay off notice.
And that's not all! Laid off employees don't need to come alone to take advantage of this great deal - any family members who accompany the employee will receive admission for only 50% of the usual price. It's a great chance for state employees and their families to relax and have some family fun, all while discovering over 10,000 of our sea creatures!

It couldn't be any simpler - the only thing the state employee needs to do is provide a copy of their lay off notice, and get ready for a great day hanging out with our sea turtles, sharks and jellyfish, just to name a few!

Check out our website or "like" our Facebook page to stay updated on great aquarium deals!

1 Fish, 2 Fish, Red, White & Blue Fish!

These fish are proud to show their Independence Day patriotism! Join in the fun and come celebrate the 4th of July with SEA LIFE Minnesota! From now until July 4th we are offering $10 admission when you purchase your tickets online! Take a break from the heat and spend some time with the sea creatures this weekend! Click here to purchase yours $10 tickets today!

In honor of our troops, SEA LIFE Minnesota is offering families of currently deployed soldiers a free family membership! Bring your service member's deployment papers to the SEA LIFE Minnesota Box Office (first floor on the East side) at the Mall of America to redeem your family membership!

Did you know? Members of our service always receive $4 off adult admission and $2 off child admission with their Military I.D.

Stay tuned: SEA LIFE Minnesota sincerely hopes that an agreement with the state's budget is able to be reached, however, in the event of a government shutdown, the aquarium will be offering benefits for state employees who are affected by this tough time--stay tuned to find out more information.

Happy 4th of July everyone, see you this weekend!!

Sharky's Extreme Adventures: Mirror Maze

Check out the second episode of Sharky's Extreme Adventures! This time, Sharky visited the Amazing Mirror Maze at the Mall of America. He filmed part of this one himself, so we got to see exactly what he did throughout the maze! From what we could tell, Sharky definitely took some wrong turns and bumped into a few walls...watch the video to see if he made it out!



Come back next week to see the newest episode! 

Welcome Bubbles!

Thanks to the help of all our awesome Facebook fans, we officially have a name for our Green Sea Turtle! From now on, you'll be able to find Bubbles in the Atlantis exhibit in the ocean tunnel. Come by the SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium to see how she's settling into her new home with the other sea turtles, sharks and stingrays!

Happy 4th of July Special!

We always have a ton of great deals here at the SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium, but we're really excited about one coming up for this weekend! Guests who buy their tickets online will receive aquarium admission from June 29th until July 4th for just $10! Admission includes express entry, an opportunity to touch some of the animals in the Rockpool, and a chance to see all 10,000 of our sea creatures. Click here to buy your tickets now, or "like" our Facebook page to learn more!

We are also offering families of currently deployed soldiers free family memberships! Bring your service member's deployment papers to the SEA LIFE Minnesota box office (first floor, east side) at the Mall of America to learn more!

See you all this weekend!

Wobbegong Sharks in Atlantis

If you walk through Atlantis in the 300ft long Ocean Tunnel at SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium, you'll get to see one of the coolest looking sharks around! The Wobbegong Sharks may be well camoflaged, but once you see them, you'll recognize it right away! They have symmetrical marking patterns, can grow to be 10 feet long, and have little weed-like tassles hanging from the head and mouth. These tentacles are used to attract small fish, crabs and lobsters so that the Wobbegong Shark can easily catch them.

These sharks are great at camouflaging themselves - they blend in well with the ocean floors!

Wobbegong Sharks are not generally aggressive, or dangerous to humans, but they have been known to bite people if accidentally stepped on! They live in shallow and tropical waters of the western Pacific Ocean and the Indian Ocean, around Australia and Indonesia. Come see if you can spot them hanging out around the bottom of the tank!

Sharky's Extreme Adventures: Sky Deck

Hey everyone! We have great news - Sharky is starting his very own video blog, Sharky's Extreme Adventures. It will keep track of all the exciting and crazy things he does around SEA LIFE Minnesota Aquarium and the Mall of America! 

In this first episode, Sharky went up to the Sky Deck to play some games and go bowling. Check out the video below to see how much fun he had!

Sharky's next video blog post will be coming soon, so stay tuned! There's rumors going around that he's visiting some pretty awesome places, we can't wait to see what he does next!