Sea Life Michigan, Public aquarium at Great Lakes Crossing Outlets, Auburn Hills, United States
Sea Life Michigan is a public aquarium at Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills, Michigan, home to hundreds of marine animals from a wide range of species. The space is divided into themed sections, each with its own tanks and viewing angles, covering creatures from small reef fish to sharks and green sea turtles.
The aquarium opened in 2015, developed by Merlin Entertainments, the British company that operates the Sea Life brand in locations around the world. It was the first Sea Life venue in Michigan and was designed from the start to attract families and school groups.
Sea Life Michigan sits inside a large shopping outlet, which shapes the crowd: families with children make up most of the visitors. The touch pools, where guests can handle starfish and other small sea creatures, tend to draw the most attention.
The aquarium is inside Great Lakes Crossing Outlets at Entrance 7, so parking is shared with the shopping center. A visit generally takes between one and two hours depending on how much time you spend at each section.
Two juvenile green sea turtles, Benson and Carr, live in the ocean tank after boat strikes left their shells and spines irreparably damaged. The 180-degree tunnel runs beneath that tank, so the turtles and the blacktip reef sharks pass overhead. Sea Life also breeds potbelly seahorses and raises lake sturgeon for release into local rivers.
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