Expanded hospital at Calif. aquarium includes new space, new technology, new audience
By Sue Manning, APFriday, May 21, 2010
Expanded hospital opens at Calif. aquarium
LONG BEACH, Calif. — The Aquarium of the Pacific is opening a brand new animal hospital that will be able to treat all sorts of sea creatures, from baby sea horses that weigh less than a gram to California sea lions that weigh in at 550 pounds.
The Molina Animal Care Center, a $5.5 million expansion that gives the aquarium a 14,000 square-foot hospital, opens Friday.
The facility allows visitors to watch while animals are treated and a live feed will allow aquarium surgeries will be broadcast to the local children’s hospital so patients and their parents can watch.
The aquarium is also opening a remodeled sea otter habitat, named after the oil giant BP, which donated $1 million for its development four years ago.
