SeaWorld

Coordinates: 32°45′57″N 117°13′35″W / 32.7657°N 117.2263°W / 32.7657; -117.2263 SeaWorld is a United States chain of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, and animal theme parks owned by SeaWorld Entertainment. The parks feature killer whale, sea lion, and dolphin shows and zoological displays featuring various other marine animals. There are operations in Orange County, Florida; San Diego, California; San Antonio, Texas; and previously Aurora, Ohio. On March 5, 2007, SeaWorld Orlando announced addition of the Aquatica water park to its adventure park family, which already includes SeaWorld and Discovery Cove.

SeaWorld parks also feature thrill rides, including roller coasters like Kraken and Manta at SeaWorld Orlando and Steel Eel and The Great White at SeaWorld San Antonio. Journey to Atlantis, a combination roller coaster and splashdown ride, can be found at all three parks. The parks were owned by Busch Entertainment Corp., the family entertainment division of Anheuser-Busch, which is best known for brewing beer. In 2009, Busch Entertainment was sold to the Blackstone Group and subsequently renamed SeaWorld Entertainment. In 2013 Blackstone sold 37% of SeaWorld Entertainment in an initial public offering.

63 Seaworld

63 Seaworld is an aquarium that opened in 1985 in the 63 Building, Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea. It was the first public aquarium in the country. The 63 Building was the tallest building in Korea when it was built, and is still an iconic building in Seoul. The aquarium hosts about 1,000,000 visitors each year.

History

The aquarium was opened in 1985, occupying 5,630 square metres (60,600 sq ft) of the three basement levels in the 63 Building (the third basement is an equipment level and not open to the public). Its mission was to "be a center of education for those interested in learning more about marine life," and it reproduced ocean habitats from around the world. The harbor seal show opened in 1990, and is still showing daily.

Animals

63 Seaworld is currently home to 20,000+ animals representing 400+ species, including king penguin, jackass penguin, pirarucu, piranha, Oriental small-clawed otter, harbor seal, sea lion.

Exhibits

The aquarium includes 80 tanks, 54 of which are available for public viewing, with the rest being used for breeding rare sea creatures.

SeaWorld San Antonio

SeaWorld San Antonio (formerly Sea World of Texas) is a 250-acre (100 ha) marine mammal park, oceanarium, and animal theme park, located in the Westover Hills District of San Antonio, Texas. It is the largest of the three parks in the SeaWorld chain owned by SeaWorld Entertainment, a division of Blackstone Group, and the world's largest marine-life theme park. The other two SeaWorld parks are located in San Diego, California and Orlando, Florida. It is a member of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums (AMMPA) and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).

History

Sea World of Texas was developed by Harcourt, Brace, and Jovanovich (now Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). Built for $170 million, it opened on Memorial Day weekend in May 27, 1988 and welcomed 75,000 people during the grand opening. It had 3.3 million visitors in its first 12 months of operation, placing it among the Top 10 attractions in Texas. At the time of the park's debut, it was billed as "the largest educational, marine-life theme park in the world."