Surging Waves Aquarium

Written by @PerGron

Sea otters

In a medium-sized pool located nearby the lagoon in the center of the park is the sea otter (Enhydra lutris) exhibit. The exhibit is almost entirely comprised of water as the species is one of the most aquatic non-cetacean mammal species, spending close to 98% of its life in water. Because of this, only a small strip of false rock sits behind the pen where the animals shift behind the scenes.

The exhibit features six otters, four female and two male and are all a part of the species survival plan for their species. Guests have the ability to view the otters from the outside as well as take a look within the aquarium at the underwater viewing section, getting to see the otters playing underwater.

The floor of the pool is covered in large rocks and sand and shellfish are placed in by divers every day, hiding them throughout the enclosure to give the otters a challenge when finding their food. Lucky guests may get to see the otters bashing open clams or sea urchins with a rock. Even luckier guests may see the whole hoarde of otters holding hands while floating at the top of the water as they sleep to avoid floating away as they do in the wild.

Salmon Stream

Running between the otters and the fisherman's shack that serves as the rest of the aquarium is an exhibit themed to a freshwater river. The aquarium begins below guests, running parallel with the path, but as guests continue downhill the aquarium seems to rise, giving underwater viewing to the world below.

Featured in this aquarium are multiple cold water species of fish found throughout Russia, including multiple species from the salmon and trout family.

The species featured in this exhibit are

  • Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka)

  • Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawtyscha)

  • Brown Trout (Salmo trutta)

  • Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)

  • Arctic Char (Salvelinus alpinus)

  • Sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus)

  • Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio)

Smaller aquariuns

Within the fisherman's shack is a selection of smaller aquariums. Here, guests can check out species of cold water freshwater and oceanic species found in smaller display tanks than the larger salmon river aquarium.

The underwater viewing area for the sea otter enclosure is also featured here, giving guests a look at the species playing underwater.

Some of the exhibits featured here include

  • Mackerel (Scomber scombrus)

  • Japanese Spider Crab (Macrocheira kaempfari)

  • Arctic Cod (Boreogadus saida)

  • Wolffish (Anarhichas lupus)

  • European Flounder (Platichthys flesus)

  • European Eel (Anguilla anguilla)

  • Curled Octopus (Eledone cirrhosa)

  • Norway Lobster (Nephrops norvegicus)

  • Lumpfish (Cyclopterus lumpus)

  • Purple Sea Urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus)

  • Spiny Dogfish (Squalus acanthias)

Steller's sea eagle

The final enclosure in the aquarium, the Steller’s sea eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus) lives in an aviary on the other side of the aquarium from the sea otters. Here, one individual male sea eagle resides having been a rescue from Alaska that can no longer survive in the wild. While fully flighted, this individual bird has issues in its wings that prevent long distance flight, so the enclosure focuses on height more than length, allowing unique perching situations in large trees for the bird to climb up.


The salmon aquarium passes by the outside of the sea eagle exhibit, giving the eagle a look at the salmon, but not allowing it to access them. Instead, the eagle is given a pond where live fish are stocked for predation as well as the bird being supplemented with fish provided by zookeepers.


Guests can see the eagle from outside the fishing shack, but the bird also has a small indoor enclosure it can access by climbing through the tunnel in the wall should it want to escape inclimate weather, though generally it remains outside most of the time.