The Columbus Zoo & Aquarium provided an update Thursday on a new habitat for sea lions and seals.
Construction is now underway for "Adventure Cove."
The new habitat is expected to open in 2020. The zoo says Adventure Cove will feature over and under-water views of seals and sea lions. It will be open year-round.
Adventure Cove construction is under way! The crew is forming the foundations that will become the all-new sea lion and seal habitat, the underwater viewing tunnel, Life Support System (LSS) building and the new Animal Encounters Village. In these aerial images, you can see the beginnings of the deepest infrastructure. The winter weather has caused the team to be creative while building in order to maintain schedule, so the area you see tented is for what will become the LSS building. This tent helps to keep areas warm so materials do not freeze. They also have laid blankets over the areas where concrete was placed to protect the setting concrete.
Now when all is said and done, there are miles of high-strength pipe that is laid in some locations over 15-feet deep to allow water to flow from the 370,000-gallon pools to the LSS treatment area, which then gets treated and then heads back to the pools. The entire working site for this project spans 7 acres!
Another neat fact about the planning for this new experience is that our team is very resourceful. When dirt was removed to make way for the pipes and structure foundations, the clay soil became too moist due to the very wet fall and winter we’ve had, and therefore was not able to be repacked back on the site. Currently, there are renovations taking place in the elephant yard, which has called for soil to be removed. This good dirt was then used to build up the grades below the sea lion pools and cover the miles of pipework. Talk about reusing what you already have! This brand new area is set to open in 2020, so stay tuned for more updates!
