Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium’s new sea lion exhibit debuts this Labor Day holiday weekend.
The state-of-the-art facility features an underwater viewing window and a 275,000 gallon pool for the marine life.
The design was inspired by the ecosystem of the Pacific Northwest.
“We all borrow from one another, and every time someone builds a new exhibit, we all try and say 'how can we make it even better?' And that’s what we did here; We set the new standard for sea lion exhibits in the country,” Zoo director Dennis Pate tells 6 News.
The exhibit opens Friday.
The sea lions have already made the move to the new exhibit. The entire project was 26.8 million dollars.
The sea lions’ previous home was a former Riverview Park swimming pool meant for humans. This new facility creates an environment similar to what sea lions would experience in the wild.
“All the water is saltwater, which is where they live in saltwater oceans and near shore areas. It’s all filtered through chemical ND biological, mechanical filtration systems that we have, and we have waves. We’ve done an awful lot to make this exhibit complex for the animals,” said Pate.
The new exhibit also has seating for up to 170 people to watch training sessions.