FISHMAS FUN AT SEA LIFE MICHIGAN AQUARIUM

Twas the week before Christmas and Scuba Claus is making his rounds at SEA LIFE MICHIGAN aquarium making sure all the good fish had holiday treats. If you are looking to get in some last minute holiday shopping or a way to entertain kids while they are off school for Christmas break now is a good time to swing by Great Lakes Crossing Outlets in Auburn Hills to take in the mall's stores and entertainment spaces like SEA LIFE MICHIGAN. Through December 26, the aquarium will be having special Fish-mas activities and decorations for visitors to enjoy.

My family always enjoys a trip to our local SEA LIFE aquarium and a visit this week will be extra fun with their Fish-mas celebration. There will be holiday decor throughout the aquarium. Take a polar plunge dipping your hands into the cold water Touchpool filled with bright red and green sea anemones. Participate in a Christmas themed scavanger hunt along with more holiday themed surprises taking place this week.

If you are good boys and girls, visitors may catch a glimpse of Scuba Claus and his elves swimming about the Ocean Habitat. They have special treats for the fish and turtles that live there plus they are making sure the habitat is nice and clean. Ho Ho Ho! Merry Fish-mas!

SEA LIFE MICHIGAN is open from 10am - 6pm. Last entry is one hour before closing. Tickets must be purchased online in advance of arrival to reserve a time slot. For more information, head over to vistsealife.com/michigan

RESCUED GREEN SEA TURTLES FINDS NEW HOME IN MICHIGAN AQUARIUM

Metro Detroit's SEA LIFE Michigan Aquarium celebrated its second anniversary at Great Lakes Crossing Outlet Mall by welcoming a new resident to its 120,000 gallon ocean tank -- Carr the Green Sea Turtle.  The 85 pound turtle was severely injured after being hit by a boat but Grumbo Limbo Nature Center in Boca Raton, Florida, rescued Carr and nursed him back to health.  Unfortunately, due to floatation issues caused by his injuries, Carr is non-releasable; which means he will never be able to survive again in the wild.  So SEA LIFE Michigan Aquarium is taking him in where he'll join another rescued turtle, Benson, living at the facility.

My kids and I were at SEA LIFE Michigan to welcome Benson to his new home back in 2015 (click here to read that post) and had a chance to see the green sea turtle up close as he was introduced to the aquarium's ocean tank.  Both turtles received round-the-clock care and monitoring from a veterinarian team in a special med pool for the week before being released into the ocean tank and during that time also learned SEA LIFE Michigan's target training feeding technique to help orientate them to their new home.  Benson has taken really well to living in the Great Lakes State and now he'll have a friend to share the space with in Carr.

SEA LIFE has devoted itself to hosting and providing care for non-releasable rescued green sea turtles based upon the endangered state of the species.  Only 1,000 - 10,000 of this species' hatchlings born each year actually survive to adulthood, according to the Sea Turtle Conservancy.  In addition to danger presented by predators in the ocean, green sea turtles are also threatened by human activities such as loss of habitat to development, commercial fishing, pollution, and being hit by boat traffic which is what injured both Benson and Carr.  Caring for these two rescued turtles is part of SEA LIFE'S Breed, Rescue and Protect program which enhances the value of the aquarium as an entertainment attraction by having it also support marine wildlife educational outreach and conservancy efforts.

TICKET GIVEAWAY

Would you like to welcome Carr to his new home in Michigan?  A Geek Daddy has a four pack of tickets to SEA LIFE Michigan to giveaway.  Visit SEA LIFE Michigan's website then email thegeekdaddy [at] yahoo [dot] com sharing with us which of the 250 species of sea life creatures you are most excited to see at the Detroit area aquarium.  Also please include your full name and mailing address.  One lucky winner will be randomly selected to receive the ticket prize pack.  To participate in the giveaway you must be a Michigan resident over the age of 18 years old. Entries must be received by February 3, 2017 @ 11:59 pm ET.

SEA LIFE Michigan is one of 8 aquariums operated within the United States by MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS.  All together, Merlin operates 25 attractions and 2 hotels in the United States including LEGOLAND Discovery Center Michigan (also located at Great Lakes Crossing), plus LEGOLAND Resorts in Florida and California, and six Madame Tussauds celebrity wax attractions.

For more information about the aquarium go to visitsealife.com/michigan

 A Geek Daddy has not been financially compensated for this endorsement or hosting the giveaway but was provided the same items being provided as a prize for personal use. The prize is provided by SEA LIFE MICHIGAN and A Geek Daddy is hosting the promotion as a benefit to our readers. Must be a Michigan resident over the age of 18 to participate.  One entry per person and winner will be randomly selected from all eligible entries.  By participating in this promotion you waive any liability of any kind against the publisher of this blog. Winner is subject to eligibility verification. No P.O. Boxes allowed for delivery of the prize. SEA LIFE MICHIGAN  will be responsible for shipping the prize to the selected winner.  Emails will only be utilized for notifying winner and will be deleted at the conclusion of the promotion.  Each email will be designated a number based upon when it is received and a winning number will be randomly selected to determine the winner. Entries must be received by February 3, 2017 @ 11:59 pm ET.

ILLUMINATE: A NIGHT AT THE MICHIGAN SCIENCE CENTER

The Michigan Science Center is encouraging families to stop by the evening of Saturday, October 22, 2016 from 7 to 11pm for a special fun-filled after-hours party. ILLUMINATE: A NIGHT AT THE MICHIGAN SCIENCE CENTER will provide an electrifying experience as it highlights its newest exhibit "Creatures of Light: Nature's Bioluminescence" and provides opportunities for attendees to be entertained by activities that revolve around the theme of "light." Guests can witness fire breathing and juggling performances by Sunshine Fire Entertainment, interact with touch tanks from Sea Life Aquarium, and more during this event.

The Creatures of Light exhibit allows people to discover the world of bioluminescence - the generation of light by living things. Travel through summer meadows, visit the deep sea, explore other-worldly environments, experience a custom soundscape, and encounter amazing organisms. This exhibit is organized by the American Museum of Natural History, New York in collaboration with the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa, Canada, and The Field Museum, Chicago. The exhibit is divided into six sections --  Woods: Mushrooms; A Summer's Night: Fireflies; A Mysterious Cave: Glowworms; A Sparkling Sea: Dinoflagellates; Sea Shores: Corals, Jellies & Fishes; and Deep Ocean: Predators & Prey.  Creatures of Light includes interactive experiences, larger than life models, video presentations and even some live animals.

There will also be special hands-on activities taking place throughout the evening that include:

Painting with Light: Light up the night and write a message in the dark at our Light Painting station. Light painting is a photography technique using slow a shutter speed to draw in the air with light. With our supply of various sources of light, we are sure you will have some bright ideas!

Technology Hologram: Witness a larger-than-life hologram image and create your own mini version to take home, using your smart phone and a few simple supplies!

Bling Bar: Transform into one of our Creatures of Light by making an LED angler fish headband or a fire fly pin!

Diffraction Glasses & Spectrum Tubes: Design and create Diffraction Glasses, then chase rainbows as these sassy specs separate and diffract the light around us. Put them to the test in during the Planetarium show: Cosmic Colors!

Paint by Numbers Throwies: Learn about electricity by creating an LED circuit and then throw your creation to create a piece of bioluminescent art, which will be showcased in the Creatures of Light exhibit.

Thermal Mapping: Did you know your body can light up too? See where your skin is radiating the warmest heat waves with our infrared camera!

Perler Beads: Use beads to create unique glow-in-the-dark designs.

Glow Slime – Make oozy slime that glows in dark!

Live Demo (Luminol): Learn how energy produces visible light through chemical reactions. We think it’s pretty brilliant! ·

Fluorescing Bubbles: Make ordinary dry ice into vibrant bubbles that glow under ultra violet light!

Desserts will be provided and a cash bar will be available for guest 21+. Tickets can be purchased here. Tickets for ILLUMINATE are $40 per adult and  $15 for each child.  CLICK HERE to purchase tickets. 

The Michigan Science Center is located at 5020 John R Street in downtown Detroit, Michigan.  CLICK HERE for directions and parking information.

About the Michigan Science Center

The Michigan Science Center is a hands-on museum that inspires curious minds of all ages to discover, explore and appreciate science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in a creative, dynamic learning environment. The Science Center features five theaters, including Michigan’s largest screen at the Chrysler IMAX® Dome Theatre; the Dassault Systèmes Planetarium; the Toyota Engineering 4D Theater; the DTE Energy Sparks Theater; the Chrysler Science Stage; a 9,800 square-foot Traveling Science Hall for special exhibits; hands-on exhibit galleries focusing on space, life and physical science; Kids Town just for pint-size scientists; along with, education and outreach programs. The Michigan Science Center is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and does not receive any money from the city of Detroit or the state of Michigan. For more information, please call 313.577.8400 or visit the website, www.Mi-Sci.org

LEGOLAND Discovery Center coming to Michigan in Spring of 2016

A Geek Daddy was pleased to be a part of the groundbreaking ceremony celebrating the beginning of construction on LEGOLAND Discovery Center Michigan, a 32,000-square-foot indoor attraction featuring more than one million LEGO bricks and themed exhibits including a 4D cinema, two interactive rides, and a uniquely Michigan-themed MINILAND display, that will be located at Great Lakes Crossing in the city of Auburn Hills.  Bertie, the LEGOLAND Discovery Center mascot, joined the fun when a large construction loader dumped 50,000 LEGO bricks for local dignitaries and school children to dig in to as they ceremonially welcomed the facility to the community.  After checking out the layouts of the facility they had on display during the groundbreaking ceremony, I just have to say "Everything is Awesome!"

 

Opening in Spring 2016, the attraction will provide an immersive 2 to 3 hour LEGO experience for its visitors. LEGOLAND Discovery Center Michigan will be the 8th LEGOLAND Discovery Center attraction within the United States and the 14th in the world.  Aspects of the LEGOLAND Discovery Center Michigan will include:

a 4D Cinema that takes 3D films featuring popular LEGO characters and adds some extra special effects like wind, rain, snow, and lightning to bring the experience to life.   

Kingdom Quest is an interactive ride that has you jump into a chariot and use your laser to zap evil doers as you attempt to rescue a Princess and win the highest score.  The better your aim the higher your score will be.  Challenge your friends and family on who will achieve the highest ranking.

LEGO Racers:  Build & Test lets you build your own vehicle and test it on a test track.  Times are recorded to the hundredth of a second so it might be a close competition between friends on who has the bragging rights to claim the fastest LEGO racer.

LEGO Factory Tour provides a virtual reality experience that lets you discover how LEGO bricks are made to get their shape and color. It has you guide factory workers through each stage of the LEGO brick making process; mixing, heating, molding and decorating.

The LEGOLAND Discovery Center Michigan will also include a LEGO Duplo Village play area for guests under 5 years old, LEGO MINILAND depicting Michigan landmarks, Merlin's Apprentice Ride and a LEGO Master Builder Academy plus a Cafe and LEGOLAND Discovery Center Shop.

LEGOLAND is owned and operated by U.K.-based Merlin Entertainments, the world's second largest visitor attraction operator, which also recently opened and operates SEA LIFE Michigan at Great Lakes Crossing.  Great Lakes Crossing is an outlet mall located 35 miles north of the city of Detroit conveniently off of the I-75 highway within Oakland County, Michigan.  If your kids love LEGO building blocks (seriously what child doesn't?!) and are as excited as mine are about this brand new Metro Detroit attraction you can get updates about its opening while it is under construction by following @LDCMichigan on Twitter or liking its Facebook page.

Sea Life in Michigan - Metro Detroit's New Aquarium

We've made a few family road trips over the last few years to enjoy aquariums including the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and The Greater Cleveland Aquarium and recently added the brand new Sea Life Michigan aquarium which just opened a few weeks ago to the list.  What was nice about visiting #SeaLifeMichigan was that it was a fifteen minute drive from our home compared to a half day drive to Chicago or Cleveland.  While it was -5 degrees on our car thermometer  as we pulled into the parking lot at Great Lakes Crossing mall, where the aquarium is located, when we entered the building we were immersed into a tropical wonderland for our kids to explore that featured more than 20 displays, 5,000 sea creatures, and 120,000 gallons of water.

The outing began with our kids being provided a fun cardboard divers mask to wear and a dive log book, which they needed to get stamped at 9 educational stations located throughout the aquarium, as we waited to enter the air lock to be transported underseas.  Children who get all 9 stamps receive a souvenir pin they can pickup at the gift store. Once we entered the airlock there was a nice animated video featuring the Sea Life mascots providing an overview of the aquarium.  I found it to be an entertaining and educational video that also kept my twin 6 year old's attention throughout it.  In addition to providing an overview of what you'll see as you venture through the aquarium, the video also does a nice job of creating a gap between groups of visitors as a way to keep traffic moving through the exhibits.

If you have young children, toddlers through elementary school age, your family will enjoy that there are all sorts of pop outs accessible to kids to give them unique, up close views of the fish and sea creatures.  Our kids were really excited to pop in and out of the many alcoves situated in the various habitats.

Many of the views that were at an adult level didn't just look out, but also up.  In this exhibit, not only did we enjoy seeing fish swim around in front of us but when we looked up we also saw a sting ray and shark swim over us.

The aquarium has a nice touch tank filled with a variety of starfish, shrimp, sea urchins and other creatures kids can pet and touch and dedicated staff working the exhibit providing interesting tips and facts while encouraging everyone in the audience to participate.

 

 

Following the touch pool is a waste level observation tank filled with  black tip reef sharks and cownose stingrays which gives you a great up close view of the fish swimming around but while we thought it may be another touching opportunity unfortunately it was warned no hands allowed in the water.

 Exhibits vary from showing off sturgeon native to Michigan's waterways to a tank filled with the tropical fish that look like  Marlin, Nemo, and Dory from the movie Finding Nemo.  Other exhibits feature turtles and jellyfish.  Sting rays are everywhere and really are the main feature of the place.  They have some giant sized sting rays that are much more impressive than any of the sharks they currently have on display.
 

The tour wraps up going through an impressive walk through tunnel.  A huge sting ray dove past us and buried itself in the sand right before us making our whole family exclaim WOW!  This space seems a little empty though as all of the sharks on display are pretty modest in size.  I'm not sure if they will grow over time or maybe larger ones may be transported later when the weather is warmer as the facility opened in winter in Michigan or that may be what you get.  Sea Life Michigan doesn't have the whales or dolphins of Shedd or the goliath grouper and large sharks of Greater Cleveland so don't go there expecting that thrill but it does provide an intimate up close look at aquatic life that is a nice for a family outing.  We walked through the aquarium in a half hour at an average pace - visitors are welcome to loop back and go through again or keep their tickets and return later in the same day for another view.

We visited Sea Life Michigan at 4:30pm on a Wednesday and when we wrapped up there walked across the hall for dinner at the Rain Forest Cafe.  Wednesday is "Kids Night" at the Rain Forest Cafe from 5pm to closing which features discounted children's meals, appearances by their mascot Cha! Cha!, plus FREE balloons and face painting.

 

Whether you live near Metro Detroit or are just in town for a visit, taking a drive over to Great Lakes Crossing to enjoy Sea Life Michigan will make for a fun time...especially if you make a family outing of it on a Wednesday night.

DISCLAIMER:  While the publisher of this blog occasionally receives complimentary benefits or compensation associated with reviews this particular review was completely paid for out of his own pocket at his own expense.  Opinions are completely his own and this post was not sponsored by Sea Life Michigan or Rain Forest Cafe.

Sea Creatures are coming to the Great Lakes

We took a back-to-school shopping trip recently to Great Lakes Crossing Outlet Mall and I noticed an area under construction near the Rain Forest Cafe restaurant.  The space being worked on had a sign posted in front of it saying "Coming Soon: SEA LIFE Michigan."  I was excited to find out that this new addition to Great Lakes Crossing will be a 35,000-square-foot indoor aquarium featuring a wide array of aquatic life for visitors to enjoy observing.

Photo from SEA LIFE Arizona

SEA LIFE Michigan will be bringing ocean creatures to the Great Lakes with this brand new aquatic center located in Auburn Hills, Michigan (a half hour drive north of downtown Detroit on Interstate 75) when it opens in the Spring of 2015.  Visitors will have face-to-face access to 5,000 sea creatures from a diverse 250 species in interactive, engaging themed environments.  Also based upon its unique location within the Great Lakes State, this new aquarium will feature a custom designed Fresh Water exhibit area showcasing creatures native to Michigan's waterways.

Photo from SEA LIFE Arizona

The highlight of a visit to SEA LIFE Michigan will be its variety of displays showing creatures from the sea.  Themed exhibits will include Shark Shipwreck (A display featuring sharks, puffer fish, other tropical sea creatures), Coral Reef, Stingray Bay, and Seahorse Mangrove.  There will also be touchpools for hands on experiences, an ocean tank, a life-like harbor and other fun educational and entertaining features.

Photo from SEA LIFE Arizona

SEA LIFE Michigan is operated by UK-based Merlin Entertainments and will be the company's 7th SEA LIFE center within the United States.  In addition to entertaining visitors, the company also hopes people will take away an appreciation of sea creatures and understanding of the harmful impact humans can have on aquatic environments.  The SEA LIFE centers work to assist with conservation through its "Breed Rescue Protect" branding and programs.

Photo from SEA LIFE Arizona

Whether you live in the Metro Detroit area or are coming into town for a family visit, vacation or business trip, SEA LIFE Michigan looks to be a not to be missed experience coming to the Great Lakes region of the United States and Canada.  Our family will absolutely be going when this new facility opens up in 2015!

Photo from SEA LIFE Arizona

For more information, visit: www.visitsealife.com/michigan

DISCLAIMER:  A Geek Daddy Blog received a press release and photographs from SEA LIFE Michigan promoting the opening of this new aquarium utilized in this blog post.