Alaska SeaLife Center

About

Alaska SeaLife Center is a public aquarium and marine mammal rehabilitation facility on Resurrection Bay in Seward, Alaska. It opened in 1998, built partly with funds from the Exxon Valdez oil spill settlement, and it remains Alaska's only permanent facility for treating stranded seals, sea lions, and seabirds. It is also the state's only public aquarium, and it earned accreditation from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums in 2011, a status held by only a small share of facilities nationwide.

Inside, touch tanks let visitors handle sea stars and other invertebrates, and viewing galleries hold harbor seals, sea lions, octopuses, salmon, and halibut. An aviary on the second floor houses seabirds, and the Nose 2 Nose exhibit, added in 2016, gives close underwater views of marine mammals. Researchers affiliated with the University of Alaska Fairbanks work on-site, and visitors can sometimes watch that work in progress rather than seeing only finished exhibits. A stranded marine animal hotline connects the public to the center's rescue team year-round, and admitted patients, such as orphaned harbor seal pups, are sometimes visible to visitors during treatment. Most people spend two to three hours moving through the building at their own pace.

The center sits at Mile 0 of the Seward Highway, about 125 miles south of Anchorage, roughly a two-and-a-half to three-hour drive. The Alaska Railroad and some cruise lines also run to Seward in summer, and a seasonal shuttle plus several local taxi companies connect the rail depot and cruise dock to the center. Parking in the adjacent lot is free year-round.

Seward's small boat harbor and downtown waterfront are both within walking distance of the center, so the visit pairs easily with a harbor walk or a meal in town rather than standing alone as a single stop.

Accessibility

Alaska SeaLife Center is wheelchair accessible. The center describes itself as wheelchair and stroller accessible.

Parking is free year-round in the lot next to the building. A photo of the plaza in front of the main doors shows a set of steps with handrails, so if steps are a problem, call ahead and ask which entrance to use; the center's own accessibility page does not describe the entrance route in detail.

The tanks are built at wheelchair height, so seated visitors get an unobstructed view of the marine life instead of looking up from below.

The center keeps a small number of loaner wheelchairs and strollers at the front desk, given out first come, first served. It was the first organization in Alaska certified Sensory Inclusive by KultureCity: staff are trained to help visitors with sensory disabilities, signage marks quiet areas and headphone zones through the building, and free sensory bags (headphones, a headphone zone map, fidgets, cue cards) are available at admissions, along with a weighted lap pad on request. An audio tour with extended descriptions, including stories from Sugpiaq Elders, is built for visitors who are blind or have low vision, and the center asks everyone using it to wear headphones or earbuds. Service animals are welcome throughout the building except the open-air aviary, where staff will stay with the animal in a nearby area while the handler finishes that part of the tour.

The website does not spell out restroom locations, door widths, or exact entrance grades, so email [email protected] with specific questions before you go, and ask about wheelchair loaner availability if you are visiting during peak summer months, when the small supply can run out.

Checked by Accessible America, August 2026. Report a change

More accessible places in Alaska

• Kenai Fjords National Park & Seward (Seward)
• Major Marine Tours (Seward)
• Alaska Aviation Museum (Anchorage)
• Alaska Botanical Garden (Anchorage)
• Morris Thompson Cultural and Visitors Center (Fairbanks)
• University of Alaska Museum of the North (Fairbanks)