Just visited the SeaLife Konstanz. I have to say, just another underwhelming (1hour visit, 18 euros) SeaLife experience. All the ingredients for a SeaLife are known; Some underwhelming overtheming, backgroud music during the whole “experience”, halve-way through there’s a circular exhibit with large rays, you pass some clownfish and it all ends with a small tunnel in which turtles are kept in a way too small a tub. Check. Konstanz throws in an all-indoor gentoo exhibit, as standard and tiny as they come. U-shaped far too small land area surrounds a small pond with viewing windows. Some ice, 10 gentoo’s, Bob’s your uncle. It reminds me of pictures of polar bear exhibits in Chinese malls. I was meant to say, “almost shameful” but realised the “almost” can be taken off. I’m not a fish fanatic and with a toddler strapped for sleep (and behaving accordingly) did not spend too much time searching the aquaria for it’s inhabitants. Looking at the signs was no option, for this aquarium was almost the epitome of wat I like to coin “aquariums’ disease”. It means that over halve of the inhabitants were not signed at all, about a quarter of the tanks did not contain whatever the aquarium inclined to sign and about a quarter was spot on. It didn’t help that quite a few digital signages were out of order. Very few species/tanks stood out for me. I liked the “Bodensee” tank, although I don’t think the Bodensee contains two russian species of sturgeons... two species of sea-horses, one long-snouted and one unsigned (presumably big-bellied) and garden-eals in different colors is what I managed to remember. Sealife’s are like burning houses, car crashes or bad television shows. You can never watch away if your near one and afterwards you wish you had.
I loved reading this review, even though it was of a measly Sea Life facility. I would never have forgiven myself if I drove past a Sea Life Aquarium and didn't visit, even though they are expensive, take an hour or less to tour and are instantly forgettable. The good news is that it is yet another zoological establishment visited and you're off to the next one! I didn't mind walking through a few Sea Life franchises in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands last summer as they whetted my appetite for the really good aquatic zoos!
I guess you’re right that as a zoo-nerd, you never really regret it as it’s 1-up for the list Some of them have some interesting species now and then, I saw my first (and if I remember correctly only) sea-krait at SeaLife Scheveningen. But I’m afraid there was nothing truly fascinating at this one. Perhaps I should have dived deeper into their fish-list and pick out the good ones (if there were any). There was also only one species of amphibian (one poison dart frog with a broken sign) on display, not one reptile and just one bird (gentoos). Also not the greatest pick.
As someone who's living not so far away from Konstanz and has visited this facility 2 times (which was one time to much) I can guarantee: You don't have to go deeper, you didn't miss anything special...
