Pacific Seas Aquarium
Now open
The new Pacific Seas Aquarium is an underwater delight. Stare at hammerhead sharks or gaze at green sea turtles. Explore Pacific Coast habitats from cold Northwest to tropical Baja California. Find world-class art and a jelly globe. Dive in.
We also have the South Pacific Aquarium, home to massive sharks and tropical fish.
Discover the Pacific Seas
Explore Habitats
Aquarists care
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It takes dedication to be an aquarist, as well as training and time.
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Our aquarists spend hundreds of hours getting to know our animals.
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Feeding sharks
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Using objects the animals have been trained to recognize, each gets its own portion.
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It can take awhile! But the aquarists work patiently until everyone is satisfied.
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Water is life
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Water in the aquarium is pumped straight up from Puget Sound, filtered and warmed through a complex web of pipes.
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After it washes nutrients over our animals, it’s treated and flows back into the Sound – no pollution, no waste.
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Protecting the Ocean
THE THREAT: Our oceans are beautiful – but they face many threats, from plastic pollution to chemicals, oil, overfishing and acidification. Many of the animals in our aquarium are threatened in the wild.
TAKE ACTION: But we can help – the ocean is in our hands. Find out what you can do by visiting the Waves of Change gallery inside the aquarium, or exploring our Protecting Wildlife pages.
Aquarium Stories
“Wow, they’re huge!” is something both Zoo guests and staff can be heard saying inside the Pacific Seas Aquarium. They’re talking about the scalloped hammerhead sharks that have dramatically grown since they first arrived in 2017 as nearly 2-foot-long pups. Now, they are an impressive five to six-feet long. And wow, do they love to … Continued
What a year this has been! From clouded leopard AI to a new muskox calf, from Zoolights to HeroRATs and everything in between, we’ve captured this year in our best photos of 2020.
Visit the Zoo before the crowds arrive, feed an unusual hero, groom a goat, dive with sharks or go behind-the-scenes of the Pacific Seas Aquarium. Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium is expanding its Zoo for You exclusive animal experiences with two new premier adventures. In addition to grooming goats, diving with sharks and a behind-the-scenes … Continued