Plans for new Tempe Sea Life Aquarium excite Scuba divers

Merlin Entertainment Group, based out of the United Kingdom, announced that it intends to build a $15 million, 26,000 square foot aquarium next to the Sports Authority at Arizona Mills in Tempe Arizona.  Merlin Entertainment is the owner and operator of Lego Land in San Diego.  "This will be Merlin's 30th Sea Life Aquarium", said spokeswoman Julie Estrada.

This will be the second aquarium to open in the Valley of the Sun over the last year.  The World Wild Life Zoo opened its three building aquarium in Litchfield Park (adjacent to the zoo) and plans to open a fourth building. Visitors to Phoenix's west side can visit the Aquarium and see species from local lakes to far off Southeast Asia.  The World Wild Life Zoo Aquarium also features a shark tank and an interactive stingray tank.

Aquariums offer a great chance for Scuba divers to extend their learning and experience with both salt water and fresh water sea life without having to travel to remote places.  In many cases, even active divers, cannot see all the various species available at a local aquarium in their natural environment.  Additionally, most aquariums offer programs specific to Scuba divers and involve them in the care and maintenance of the aquarium facility.

The Tempe City Council has approved the new aquarium.  Discussions with Arizona Mills management is still ongoing.  No planned opening date has been announced at this time. 

For more information about the author and where he teaches, please go to the Academy of Scuba.

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John C. Flanders, Jr., a seasoned and well traveled diver for over 20 years having explored almost every ocean and/or sea in the world.

Mr. Flanders is an SDI/TDI Instructor Trainer, NAUI Instructor Trainer and a PADI Master Instructor. Mr. Flanders is a SeaSigns Instructor Examiner and the Director of International Training. Mr. Flanders is also trains divers in over 50 different specialties, technical diving and public safety diving. As an Instructor Trainer for both Emergency First Response and Divers Alert Network Courses, he assists in training instructors to teach these valuable safety courses.

Mr. Flanders has published numerous articles and manuals for the dive industry and is a frequent contributor to Diverwire, an industry leading portal for Scuba Divers and the Phoenix Examiner at Examiner.com.

John is an avid cave and wreck diver. He also enjoys hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, camping, golfing, and sky diving, reading and writing.

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