SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (KSAZ) – Two million gallons of water and 200 tons of salt is all for over 10,000 sea animals that will be living in Odysea’s 200,000-square feet of space.
For more than a year, construction workers have been building the aquarium’s bones, while Dave Peranteau focuses on all of the creatures he’s about to be in charge of. “What we need for our animals to thrive is bacteria to grow to help with the filtration process,” he said. “It gives a place for bacteria to grow, so is basically a hotel for trillions of bacteria.”
There are also miles of life-support pipes, and even a specialist on-hand every second to monitor the health of the gallons and gallons of water. All of it is to get ready for the debut and will eventually go into highly-anticipated exhibits, like Sea Trek.
“We’re going to have about seven different types of rays in here, sharks and we’re going to have large, beautiful fish in here and we’ll have guides take our guests down and walk through and take pictures and interact with the animals,” he said. “This is the artsy party where they’re actually carving into the concrete, what the rocks will actually look like when they’re finished.”
A few exhibits are already at this final phase, like the otter’s future home that’s practically complete. “We’re actually going to have a waterfall for them to slide down as well,” he said. “This rock work is axial and we’re going to start filling this pool as early as tomorrow.” There’s still a lot of work to get done, but Odysea is almost there. It’s expected to open up late this summer or early in the fall.
