Inside the Controversial SeaQuest Littleton in Southwest Plaza Mall

By Kenneth Hamblin III

Tuesday, October 15, 2019 at 7:07 a.m.

Kenneth Hamblin III The entrance to SeaQuest in the Southwest Plaza Mall includes a souvenir shop. 1/25

Ken Hambli In Iguana Nirvana, you get up close and personal with large lizards. 2/25

Kenneth Hamblin III A SeaQuest handler holds a fire skink. 3/25

Kenneth Hamblin III The penguin in SeaQuest's Icelandic Fishing Village is not real, but the fish are — and you can touch and feed them. 4/25

Kenneth Hamblin III Birds in Lorikeet Paradise flock to the wire on the door in search of nectar. 6/25

Kenneth Hamblin III SeaQuest's journey is not limited to the ocean or the air; it also has two mini pigs. 7/25

Kenneth Hamblin III Anna Bulanova feeds nectar to rainbow lorikeets, which land on her hands, arms, feet and, briefly, her head. 8/25

Kenneth Hamblin III Anna Bulanova feeds nectar to rainbow lorikeets, which land on her hands, arms, feet and, briefly, her head. 9/25

Kenneth Hamblin III At SeaQuest, many of the fish tanks are open, and visitors are free to touch the creatures. 12/25

Kenneth Hamblin III A sign by this sulcata tortoise proclaims, "My name is Stormin Norman and I LOVE to eat veggies!" 13/25

Kenneth Hamblin III SeaQuest does fall short of getting a real camel into a mall. 15/25

Kenneth Hamblin III At SeaQuest, many of the fish tanks are open on the top, and visitors are free to touch the swimming creatures. 17/25

Kenneth Hamblin III At SeaQuest, many of the fish tanks are open on the top, and visitors are free to touch the swimming creatures. 18/25

Kenneth Hamblin III SeaQuest's birthday package includes the option of having Marina the mermaid entertain children. 21/25

Inside the Controversial SeaQuest Littleton in Southwest Plaza Mall

SeaQuest sits in the middle of the recently renovated Southwest Plaza Mall in Littleton. Surrounded by heavily perfumed halls and national chains like Victoria’s Secret and the Cheesecake Factory, 1,500 animals of 300 different species from around the globe make their home in this 22,000-square-foot corner of suburbia.

SeaQuest bills itself as an “interactive aquarium” in which guests can “feed and hold animals from all over the world.” But animal-rights activists allege that the national chain has been a living hell for those creatures, aquatic and otherwise.

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