New aquarium opening to public at Michigan shopping mall
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - A new 35,000-square-foot aquarium has drawn crowds of fascinated children and parents at one of Michigan's largest shopping malls.
Sea Life Michigan Aquarium opens Thursday at Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills.
The aquarium features three blacknose sharks, two bonnethead sharks and one nurse shark among its estimated 5,000 animals. It has a tropical ocean tank with a walk-through underwater tunnel.
Michigan has a number of aquariums, including one on Detroit's Belle Isle.
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Online:
http://www.visitsealife.com/michigan
In a Jan. 22, 2015 photo, Natalie Lemp, 8, left, from Livonia, and her sister Olivia, 4, get their hands on a starfish in one of the touchpools at SEA LIFE Michigan, a new 35,000 sq.-foot aquarium in the Great Lakes Crossing mall in Auburn Hills, Mich. The new aquarium opens to the public on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. (AP Phoro/The Detroit News, Brandy Baker)
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In a Jan. 22, 2015 photo, Lauren Weber, Howell, holds daughter Karina, 2, as they take a photo in the shoaling ring at SEA LIFE Michigan, a new 35,000 sq.-foot aquarium in the Great Lakes Crossing mall in Auburn Hills, Mich. The new aquarium opens to the public on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. (AP Phoro/The Detroit News, Brandy Baker)
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In a Jan. 22, 2015 photo, a stingray swims overhead in the underwater ocean tunnel guests can walk through at SEA LIFE Michigan, a new 35,000 sq.-foot aquarium in the Great Lakes Crossing mall in Auburn Hills, Mich. The new aquarium opens to the public on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. (AP Phoro/The Detroit News, Brandy Baker)
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In a Jan. 22, 2015 photo, a spiny lobster walks slowly under a school of fish swimming in the shoaling ring at SEA LIFE Michigan, a new 35,000 sq.-foot aquarium in the Great Lakes Crossing mall in Auburn Hills, Mich. The new aquarium opens to the public on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. (AP Phoro/The Detroit News, Brandy Baker)
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In a Jan. 22, 2015 photo,Taylor Lemp,6, strokes a starfish in the aquarium's touchpool at SEA LIFE Michigan, a new 35,000 sq.-foot aquarium in the Great Lakes Crossing mall in Auburn Hills, Mich. The new aquarium opens to the public on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015. (AP Phoro/The Detroit News, Brandy Baker)
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A brother and sister share space as they observe and take pictures of stingrays from one of the small viewing bubbles during the grand opening of Sea Life Michigan aquarium on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015, at the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills. The public began to tour the aquarium that features more than 5,000 creatures at noon on Thursday. (AP Photo/The Grand Rapids Press, Sam Owens)
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Alivia Damiano, 4, of Clarkston, observes the creatures swimming around her head from the inside of an air bubble amidst the center of a fish tank during Sea Life Michigan aquarium's grand opening on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015, at the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills. The public began to tour the aquarium that features more than 5,000 creatures at noon on Thursday. (AP Photo/The Grand Rapids Press, Sam Owens)
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A woman bends down to look at a turtle during the grand opening of Sea Life Michigan aquarium on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015, at the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills. The public began to tour the aquarium that features more than 5,000 creatures at noon on Thursday. (AP Photo/The Grand Rapids Press, Sam Owens)
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Kaitlyn Preston, 8, takes a picture of her Flat Stanley paper doll in front of a tank filled with stingrays and small sharks during the grand opening of the Sea Life Michigan aquarium on Thursday, Jan. 29, 2015, at the Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills. Preston made her Flat Stanley doll for a school project, in which she documents their adventures together. "It was either this ,Sea Life Michigan aquarium, or Disney World, and we picked this," Preston's mother said. "It's pretty exciting!" (AP Photo/The Grand Rapids Press, Sam Owens)
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