BAY LAKE, Fla. – From the days of the Living Seas and Sea Base Alpha to today’s big blue world, EPCOT’s Seas with Nemo & Friends has spent 40 years turning the tide on marine storytelling and conservation.
Since opening in 1986 as The Living Seas and being reimagined in 2007, the pavilion has inspired generations to explore the wonders of the ocean.
“Some things have changed, but some things haven’t. We still have our lockout chamber experience and our main environment,” said Dario Silva, education manager at the pavilion. “A lot of the visuals have changed. Our approach to the guest experience has shifted from being show-oriented to making people fall in love and have an emotional connection to our animals.”
While guests can enjoy the pavilion’s namesake “Finding Nemo” attraction and Turtle Talk with Crush, the pavilion is a hub for conservation.
“We rehabilitate and care for sea turtles. We’ve helped release over 350 sea turtles back into the wild,” said Claire Martin, senior manager of Biodiversity Conservation at Walt Disney World. “We also have a team here that’s dedicated to coral conservation in the state of Florida."
The pavilion also supports manatee rescue, having cared for and released 30 manatees in partnership with the Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation Partnership.
Dr. Geoff Pye, animal operations director at Walt Disney World, described the manatee care program.
“We shifted to short-term rehab of manatees, mostly youngsters. Our job is to care for medical issues and help them grow to a target weight before release,” Pye said. “We release them in winter when manatees gather in warm springs, which increases their survival chances.”
The heart of the pavilion is its massive main tank, one of the first mega aquariums ever built. Pye explained that the animals’ health depends entirely on the water quality.
“I believe there’s still water in there from the original opening,” he said.
Fast pavilion facts
- The main environment is 203 feet in diameter and can hold 5.7 million gallons of water. For perspective, Spaceship Earth is 165 feet in diameter.
- The pavilion is home to 90+ marine species.
- Since its founding in 1995, the Disney World Conservation Fund has provided $24 million in grants to support marine species.
- The 600+ team is made up of aquarists, divers, veterinarians, nutritionists, educators, and more.
- Disney is one of several facilities nationwide participating in the Manatee Rescue & Rehabilitation Partnership (MRP)
- More than 350 sea turtles have been rehabilitated at Walt Disney World and released back into the ocean.
- More than 30 manatees have been rehabilitated and released.
- Each manatee eats between 40 and 70 heads of lettuce every day.
- Fifty heads of lettuce are harvested from Living with the Land each day.
- DiveQuest offers certified scuba divers the opportunity to swim in the saltwater tank. Many guests become inspired to get scuba certified when they see the experience.