The Dauphin Island Sea Lab has a new title: the Official Aquarium of Alabama. The Legislature passed the designation this week and sent House Bill 136 to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk to sign into law.
State Rep. Chip Brown, R-Mobile, sponsored the measure, which he said does more than add a line to the facility’s letterhead.
A Door-Opener for Funding
“The official designation also opens the door for the Sea Lab to receive new research grants and other funding from a variety of available sources,” Brown said. He called the facility “among the state’s greatest tourism treasures.”
The Legislature founded the Sea Lab in 1971 to provide marine science programs for Alabama colleges, and 23 member institutions now partner on undergraduate and graduate studies. Its role has since grown to include K-12 education, teacher training and the public aquarium that opened in 1998 and has drawn more than one million visitors.
The aquarium holds 31 tanks with more than 30,000 gallons of water showcasing roughly 100 species from four coastal Alabama habitats: the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, Mobile Bay, the barrier islands and the northern Gulf of Mexico.