Seal Harbour

Seal Harbour is a seal and sea lion exhibit at the Sea World theme park on the Gold Coast, Australia. It officially opened to the public in January 2013.

This article is about the animal exhibit at Sea World. For the community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, see Seal Harbour, Nova Scotia.

Seal Harbour
Concept art for the exhibit
Sea World (Australia)
Coordinates27.955302°S 153.426156°E / -27.955302; 153.426156
StatusOperating
Soft opening dateEarly January 2013 (2013-01)
Opening date25 January 2013 (2013-01-25)
ReplacedPart of the Blue Lagoon dolphin pools
General statistics
Attraction typeSeal and sea lion exhibit
DesignerSea World
Inhabitants9

History

Seals and sea lions have been part of Sea World for many years. Dedicated seal and sea lion shows have been running in the park since December 1996. These include Quest for the Golden Seal, Seals Aboard and Fish Detectives.[1][2]

The Seals at Play exhibit was located in the centre of the park near the Carousel. The exhibit featured two separate enclosures under a circular shade. In 2005, a seal exhibit named Seal Rocks was proposed for the area where Ray Reef now stands.[3] It was intended to replace the Seals at Play exhibit; however, the proposal never progressed and the exhibit was cancelled.[3] On 9 July 2007, the Seals at Play exhibit was closed to make way for an expansion of Sesame Street Beach.[4][5] The seal population formerly on display in the exhibit was relocated to areas in the park's back of house.

On 22 August 2012, Sea World officially announced that they would be adding Seal Harbour.[6] The exhibit would house up to 20 seals and sea lions and would open by December 2012.[6][7] At the time of the announcement, construction was well underway.[8][9] In early January 2013, the area soft opened to the public before an official opening on 25 January 2013.[10]

Exhibit

The Seal Harbour exhibit features a 3,600,000-litre (790,000 imp gal; 950,000 US gal) pool that is divided into three areas.[11] The exhibit has a sandy bottom as well as a white sand beach.[6] Guests are able to watch the seals and sea lions from a variety of locations around the pool and above the pool on clear boardwalks.[12] Guests also have the opportunity to hand-feed fish to the inhabitants.[6]

Seal Harbour has the capacity to feature up to 20 inhabitants, including Australian sea lions, California sea lions, New Zealand fur seals and subantarctic fur seals.[12] As of January 2012, a collection of nine animals inhabit the exhibit, including California sea lions as well as New Zealand and subantarctic fur seals.[10]

See also

References
  1. "Quest for the Golden Seal (Sea World)". Parkz. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  2. "Fish Detectives (Sea World)". Parkz. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  3. "Seal Rocks (Sea World)". Parkz. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  4. "Rides and Attractions Maintenance". Sea World. 2007. Archived from the original on 30 August 2007. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  5. "Sesame Street Beach (Sea World)". Parkz. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  6. Pierce, Jeremy (22 August 2012). "Sea World to open new seal exhibit". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
  7. Village Roadshow Theme Parks (18 September 2012). "All New Rides to keep the Kids Entertained These Holidays!". Press release. E Travel Blackboard. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  8. Wilson, Richard (21 August 2012). "Sea World, August 2012". The Parkz Update. Parkz. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  9. "PhotoMaps by NearMap". Aerial imagery. NearMap. 5 August 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  10. Westthorp, Tanya (26 January 2013). "Sea World exhibit gets seal of approval". Gold Coast Bulletin. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  11. Sim, Nick (23 August 2012). "Sea World Australia to open Seal Harbour exhibit by Christmas 2012". Theme Park Tourist. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
  12. Pierce, Jeremy (22 August 2012). "New exhibit given seal of approval from Florida". The Courier Mail. Retrieved 15 September 2012.
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