The Seattle Aquarium, a notoriously harmful facility for both animals under its care as well as for members of its staff, repeatedly allows its marine animals to suffer and die prematurely in captivity. So why is the aquarium expanding its number of animals who are held captive?

The Seattle Aquarium is currently building its waterfront Ocean Pavilion in downtown Seattle. The Ocean Pavilion will house the aquarium’s new shark tank, “stocked” with sharks, rays, and tropical fish captured from the wild or bought from dubious breeders. 

Review our petition demands below; help make the world a better place for marine animals and end exploitative practices of the aquarium industry. 

These new animals are in danger. Many have already been caught and are being held in an unmarked warehouse in Seattle’s industrial district; these animals are waiting in tiny bins for their tank to open in 2024. 

Seattle Aquarium has a very poor animal welfare record. For example, approx. 500 fish from Hawai’i were captured between 2015-2019: we spotted only 75 of them alive in 2023, and only 100 more were purportedly housed in quarantine. Tragically, only 175 fish survived and 325 fish died, and these numbers represent fish only captured from Hawaiian waters. In addition to its poor treatment and housing of these fish, the aquarium has fallen under fire for its disregard of Indigenous Hawaiians' relationships with fish living in Hawaiian waters. 

Seattle Aquarium also captures Giant Pacific Octopus from the waters of Puget Sound. These wild-born octopuses are captured in their home, taken to the aquarium, and housed in a tiny tank for the amusement of paying aquarium customers. The octopuses are only returned to their home in the wild when the aquarium believes they are ready to breed. Because an octopus will die shortly after it completes his or her reproductive cycle, octopuses freed by the aquarium only return home briefly before they die. 

In order to ensure an always-full tank, the aquarium typically keeps a “spare” octopus waiting in the back. The aquarium repeats the process of capturing and releasing dying octopuses so its tank is always fully stocked with a seemingly healthy animal.

At least two videos of Seattle Aquarium-captured octopuses who have attempted escape are shared online. See the below video of a (likely terrified) octopus escaping its tiny tank enclosure, only to be handled and harassed by visitors before staff rush in with a plastic bucket. Very recently, another video was posted of an aquarium staff member repeatedly shoving a young octopus back into the tank as he tried to climb over the tank’s open top. 

Octopuses, sharks, rays, fishes, and other marine animals experience immense cruelty at the hands of the Seattle Aquarium, but the aquarium continues to demand (and receive) taxpayer dollars, especially for the construction of its new shark tank. 

Act now to demand that Seattle Aquarium:

• Stop the capture of wild octopuses from Puget Sound, 
• cease wild capture of any animal and clearly conveys to the public where they are buying animals 
• pivots to a virtual shark tank without the use of wild or bred animals, and 
• overhauls its animal care practices - for the benefit of all animals confined inside the aquarium and at the “Animal Care Center.”   

See more info here. Join our fight and make change!