Seattle Marine Aquarium

The aquarium opened on June 22, 1962, during the Century 21 Exposition and was initially owned and operated by Ted Griffin. At the time he hoped that his aquarium would be a "prelude" to a Marineland. The aquarium was a 6,000 square foot building. The staff consisted of skin-divers and volunteers. The curator was Eric Friese. ==Animals==

Orcas Under founder Ted Griffin, the aquarium was home to many orca whales captured in the wild. and three unnamed orcas for a total 8 orcas over the years. Griffin paid $8,000 for Namu, who was captured in 1965. At the time, Namu was the world's only captive killer whale on display. Aquariums all over the world also wanted Griffin to capture an orca for them. Consequently, Griffin planned large-scale orca capture operations, the first of which was the Yukon Harbor operation in 1967. As a result of this operation, for a brief period, no less than five (small) orcas were swimming together in the one tank at the aquarium. Sharks In 1964 the aquarium began to feature sixgill sharks. The sharks were taken from the Puget Sound at 500 feet deep, and were hooked with a long line. The line was tied to a buoy and dressed with ham, raw beef, and lingcod. After the sharks were captured, they lost their appetite and motivation. Griffin entered the tank in a wetsuit to force-feed the sharks mackerel and to push them around. The sharks did not last long, but the presence of the sharks significantly increased aquarium attendance. Homer the Octopus Homer was the aquarium's 88 pound octopus. At the time it was a record for captured octopuses. The octopus was captured in the Puget Sound. ==Opposition==

As people have protested against facilities like SeaWorld and the Miami Seaquarium, there were protests at the aquarium. ==Notes==