Sea Life Florida Aquarium is taking shape in Winter Haven, where it will be part of the Legoland Florida Resort.

Beyond its walls and water, of course, will be the creatures calling the new attraction home. There will be at least 3,000 animals – representing about 150 species – in the exhibit, said curator Sarah McMahon.

“We have a responsibility to always ensure the preservation of species and promote healthy populations. So we get animals from different sources,” McMahon said.

“Some of our animals come from approved suppliers and we’ve vetted through a pretty extensive accreditation process,” she said. “We also receive animals through rescue and rehoming programs. And then we also receive animals through positive-change programs where we can support local communities on sustainable practices.”

Before the Winter Haven attraction opens to the public in spring of 2025, Sea Life will move in its sea life.

“They’re going to come via truck. They’re going to come by plane and specialized containers that will ensure that they’re safe on arrival,” McMahon said.

“Everything, in terms of acquisitions of animals, curators and veterinarians, we all plan that pretty extensively, and we’re always making sure that we’re coordinating as a team to make sure that the safety and well-being of our animals is the top priority,” she said.

Sea Life Florida Aquarium is being built adjacent to Legoland Florida theme park and the nearby Peppa Pig Theme Park. All are owned by Merlin Entertainments Group, which also operates Sea Life Orlando Aquarium, Madame Tussauds and the Orlando Eye at Icon Park on Orlando’s International Drive. The two Central Florida Sea Life attractions will be the two closest-together in the chain in North America.

The 20-foot steel beam that was the final piece placed for the attraction had been displayed outside the construction site. Legoland visitors making donations to Sea Life Trust, which operates marine wildlife sanctuaries, autographed the beam

Inside, a unique presentation is planned for the aquarium’s ocean exhibit, McMahon said.

“It’s going to be showing some really cool attractions – like coral-themed castles and Ferris wheels, hotels, carousels, a haunted house – as kind of the backdrop for some of these cool animals that we’re getting,” she said.

A tunnel will run through it providing good views, she said. The concept isn’t “Legoland under water” though.

“We’re trying to just celebrate Central Florida as the theme-park capital of the world,” McMahon said.

In addition to the ocean exhibit, Sea Life Florida visitors will see blacktip reef sharks, an octopus, moon jellies, a touch pool stocked with cold water invertebrates and a seahorse gallery and more, the curator said.

McMahon has 14 years of experience with aquariums, including stints with the Sea Life at Legoland California, Georgia Aquarium, Virginia Living Museum and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Her specialties include sharks and sea horses. The majority of the sea horses in the new gallery will have been bred in other Sea Life aquariums, she said. There will be three species of the animal in Winter Haven.

“Species vary based on not just how they look, but where they’re found in the environment,” she said. “We’ve got a cold-water species that’s going to be coming in and two warmer-water species.”

Sea horses are a crowd favorite.

“They’re such a unique animal. … You wouldn’t look at it and think ‘That’s a fish,’ but it is,” McMahon said. “I think that’s what kind of captivates people.”

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