LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — SeaQuest advertises itself as an affordable option for family-friendly entertainment in Las Vegas, encouraging local schools to schedule student field trips and local parents to buy annual passes.
But the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) just conducted an undercover investigation at two SeaQuest facilities — including the one here in Las Vegas. The animal welfare organization says you need to see what they found before spending your money to support a place they call dangerous, unsanitary and inhumane.
"We had a lady stand on one with her stiletto heels."
The above quote is from a SeaQuest Las Vegas employee who is talking about a customer who stepped on and killed a parakeet inside the aviary where guests pay an extra fee to be immersed in a feeding frenzy.
"The parakeet enclosure particularly is what staff and the investigator described as a death trap because they are all fighting for the small amount of food and resources that are there," said HSUS Nevada State Director Rebecca Goff.
In the three weeks that the HSUS investigator worked undercover at SeaQuest, there were other deaths and injuries to birds in the small, crowded space.
Las Vegas location employee on hidden camera: "A guest was leaving apparently, and whacked a bird."
Second Las Vegas location employee: "Even if they were shuffling their feet, might have gotten them."
"I don't think living inside a shopping mall where there's no fresh air or sunlight is ever a happy or safe situation for any animal," Goff said.
She says at one time, there were 10 SeaQuest locations across the country, but after several closures, only five remain — including the one here in Las Vegas inside the Boulevard Mall.
SeaQuest
Texas SeaQuest closes, five locations still open across U.S.
"When we did this undercover investigation, we chose Las Vegas because it is such a popular destination," Goff said.
Their investigator also spent a month working undercover at SeaQuest in Fort Worth Texas, where she captured this on hidden camera:
Forth Worth location employee:
"This place is hell. The management is hell. They don't care about the animals. The manager just doesn't give a (expletive). We've been trying to fight for those sharks to have any sort of — any sort of life at all. For the entire time that I've been here. Because, this place doesn't care! They don't care!"
According to HSUS, "They appear to be all operating the same."
In Las Vegas, the investigator captured video of a guest grabbing a bamboo shark by its tail.
"This person is just not respecting the animal at all," Goff said. "It's dangerous to the animal. He could hurt himself. And it's dangerous to the person. The animal could bite!"
Sometimes, they do.
As we reported in February, medical records in a September 2023 lawsuit show a local three-year-old child had to go to Sunrise Hospital's emergency room after a shark latched onto his elbow during a feeding encounter.
WATCH | SeaQuest accused by former employees, guests, animal advocates of exploiting animals for profit
"These are wild animals," Goff said. "They do not want to be interacting with the public. It's terrifying to them, it's incredibly stressful to them."
This summer, the HSUS investigator recorded other examples of what they say are severely stressed animals, like an armadillo constantly running in circles in its enclosure.
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"And the animal displays behaviors that professionals, when they viewed the video, describe as incredibly alarming," Goff said.
The investigator also documented Las Vegas animals exposed to excessive heat due to broken air conditioners.
"And they were reporting temperatures well into the 90s in that facility, which is hazardous for people, it's definitely hazardous for the animals," Goff said.
HSUS video shows a cage full of parakeets positioned in front of a fan in the laundry area.
The investigator also learned an iguana was injured after escaping from its enclosure.
Las Vegas location employee on hidden cam: "The door doesn't shut, and it opened so they escaped."
Second Las Vegas location employee: "I only had one person who chucked one of the iguanas back into the enclosure. She picked him up because he ran out. She picked him up and tossed him back in."
The investigation also revealed, "Rotting food in refrigerators, and maggots, and just really unclean, unsafe and unsanitary conditions."
They found prolific roach infestations in both Fort Worth and Las Vegas.
Las Vegas location employee on hidden camera: "They'll eat the paper of our feeding charts. So we even have to lock up all of our paper stuff in there at night. They'll eat the buttons off of our radios."
Investigator: "Do you spray?"
Employee: "We spray some."
The investigator's video shows roaches colonizing under a water bowl, crawling all over animals' food, in cabinets, and on people.
Unrelated to the HSUS investigation, Las Vegas SeaQuest executive Shane Shimada sent 13 Investigates an email in September, highlighting a Texas news report. It said Fort Worth city animal control staff had found no issues at the aquarium during their visits, despite abuse allegations made by PETA.
"If everything was fine then why did you shut your doors overnight without warning staff or patrons? That doesn't add up, to me," said Goff, referring to what happened in late October.
About a month after Shimada sent the email praising SeaQuest Fort Worth, the location abruptly shut down.
SeaQuest has consistently declined all of our requests for on camera interviews. I also tried again for this story, with no response.
"On paper it sounds great. On the website, it looks great. But what it really is, is a nightmare for these animals. And it's a hazard for the children and the people that patronize these things. And we as citizens can speak with our dollars. So, hopefully the public sees what's really going on at SeaQuest, how the animals really live and what their life is like, and they make other choices to spend their money," Goff said.
HSUS sent its full report to the USDA on Nov. 1, hoping federal authorities take action. They're also reviewing their video footage for potential violations of local and state law that could be reported to Clark County Animal Protection Services.
You can follow all of our reporting on SeaQuest at ktnv.com/seaquest.
