Great Lakes Aquarium > Explore > Exhibits > Unsalted Seas

Unsalted Seas

Key Exhibit Features: Animal Contact Seating Space for Movement Staffed Tactile Experience Wet

Location: 1st Floor

Unsalted Seas showcases large lakes of the world, the animals that call them home, and their importance as a global freshwater resource. It features the largest sturgeon touchpool in North America. A panoramic exhibit of diverse and colorful cichlids tells the story of remarkable adaptability in the waters of Africa’s Lake Malawi. Children and adults alike will discover the scientific research happening on board the Large Lakes Observatory’s R/V Blue Heron. The Aquarium’s model Blue Heron features a variety of hands-on displays putting real science at your fingertips. The back deck in this gallery offers a fantastic view of the Duluth-Superior Harbor, the Aerial Lift Bridge, and passing ship traffic.

educator smiling as three kids and adult woman touch a fish
Have you ever touched a sturgeon?
a rounded exhibit with blue, orange, black and yellow African cichlids
Cichlids are brightly colored residents of Africa’s Lake Malawi.
wall with life size sturgeon stickers. two children standing by stickers with surprised faces
Are you as big as a sturgeon?
three large wooden risers with illustrations of fish on the sides. The wall behind them says welcome to lake baikal
Dive in to Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest lake.
wooden cubby with colorful boxes and different kinds of toys in them
Kinder corner introduces young children to lake science.
(Unavailable during COVID-19 pandemic)
four adults looking at lift bridge as boat goes through harbor
Hang out by the harbor on the back patio.

Acknowledgements

This project was funded in part by the State of Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund in FY 2016. Additional support was provided by: Donald M. Weesner Foundation, Lillian Goldfine, Lloyd K. Johnson Foundation, John H and Mary B. Anderson, Essentia Health Foundation, Large Lakes Observatory, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, World Wildlife Fund, LIFE Programme, Sturgeon AquaFarms, Tennessee Aquarium, and University of Wisconsin School of Freshwater Sciences.