Celebrating National Aquarium Month!

June is National Aquarium Month, and Sub Sea Systems is celebrating by featuring our aquarium partners and their unique conservation efforts.

Aquariums provide family fun, education, and interactions with sea life (including Sea TREKking!), but it may come as a surprise that aquariums are frequently involved in conservation and sea life rescue missions. 

Here are a few of our partner aquariums and the special efforts they are making to keep our planet blue!

Sea Life Park, Waimanalo, Hawaii (Oahu)

Sea Life Park in Oahu, Hawaii provides a wide variety of education and interactive programs. The Park supports animal species preservation via their “honu” (Hawaiian green sea turtles) rescue and support efforts. The Park celebrated World Turtle Day, 2017, with the release of three honu into the wild. Children from local schools participated in the event by becoming “Reef Rangers”, a kid’s conservation club sponsored by the park. The Park also endorsed the Green Sea Turtle Blessing and Release Celebration, by partnering with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Land and Natural Resources, and releasing two green sea turtles as part of a collaborative conservation initiative to protect this threatened turtle species.

OdySea Aquarium, Scottsdale, Arizona

OdySea Aquarium is committed to supporting a variety of programs at the local, regional, and global level to educate and inspire guests about aquatic life and conservation. OdySea partners with the Arizona Fish and Wildlife Department and supports their mission to conserve Arizona’s diverse wildlife resources.

Additionally, OdySea joins with SANCCOB, a registered non-profit organization whose primary objective is to reverse the decline of seabird populations through the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of ill, injured, abandoned and oiled seabirds. 

Miami Seaquarium, Miami Florida

Miami Seaquarium® is committed to wildlife conservation and the rescue, rehabilitation and release of distressed marine mammals. This commitment began even before the park first opened its doors. In July of 1955, the park's conservation work began when Maime, a 3 week old, 47-pound manatee was rescued after being injured.

Since that first rescue in 1955, Miami Seaquarium has rescued, rehabilitated and released countless manatees, sea turtles, dolphins and whales. Since 2002 alone, more than 80 manatees that have been rescued and rehabilitated and in the last decade, more than 200 sea turtles were rehabilitated under the Seaquarium’s care. It is one of only three facilities in the State of Florida with a letter of authorization from the US Fish and Wildlife Service as a Manatee Critical Care Facility. The park's highly trained animal rescue team includes divers, staff veterinarians and animal caretakers who are on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

SeaLife Aquarium, Manchester, United Kingdom

Not only does SeaLife Aquarium share the wonder and beauty of our oceans with its visitors, the Aquarium sponsors the Breed Rescue Protect program, which includes a system of care and best-practice animal husbandry that draws on decades of collective experience from marine biologists.

SeaLife runs breeding programs for creatures as diverse as sharks, rays, penguins and turtles, and participates in rescue and release efforts for injured and sick animals. SeaLife also campaigns for the global protection of marine wildlife.

Underwater World, Guam

Like all aquariums, UnderWater World shares beautiful sea life with its guests. However, this aquarium enforces a strict policy of only accepting and displaying animals that have been bred, collected, transported and treated in accordance with the Guam Environmental Education Committee. In fact, in 2007 the Marine Aquarium Council and the European Union of Zoos and Aquariums recognized one of their collection templates for international use.

Additionally, Underwater World participates in Project Guam, which focuses on restoring and protecting coral species of local concern. The aquarium partners with the University of Guam to organize field training workshops for restoration efforts. Participants included international and local aquarium specialists, students and scientists. Since 2013, UWW has installed a public laboratory at its facility, where visitors can learn about coral reproduction and conservation. 

It’s easy to get lost in the wonder of the underwater world when visiting these amazing aquariums. Communicating how much support they provide to sea life and our planet may encourage more participants to visit, enjoy, and learn more about our oceans and the lives within.