Bookable
An Apollonaut travel guide
The story behind the glass.
A ship-shaped building, an Antarctic zone and the animals in its care offer several ways into the story of SEA LIFE Melbourne.
On this page
A ship on the river
The aquarium opened on 17 January 2000 in a building designed by Peddle Thorp to resemble a ship moored on the Yarra. It reaches 7 metres below the river’s surface.
At its heart is a 2.2-million-litre oceanarium in the round.
An Antarctic zone
In 2008 an expansion added king and gentoo penguins, Antarctic fish, and ice and snow. The penguins came from Kelly Tarlton’s in New Zealand.
Since 2013 the aquarium has been part of the SEA LIFE family, run by Merlin Entertainments.
Conservation work
The aquarium has been involved in breeding grey nurse sharks, seadragons and spotted handfish, and in rehabilitating sea turtles.
This history belongs to the place and the people who shaped it. The History page offers a longer introduction, and the timeline gives a short route through selected milestones.
Read at the source
Sources & further reading
Links lead to the original publishers.
