Marine Science and Technology Center

It’s well kept and the displays are beautiful.
The aquarium has touch tanks, where you can get a sea anemone to wrap its tentacles around your fingers. If you take the time to really observe the wildlife in the tanks, you will be so impressed by the diversity and the camouflage of crabs and fish, hidden in plain sight! It’s great for a more intimate visit and particularly for those looking to learn more about marine biology. This would go over excellent for a school field trip!

Our 6^th grade (11 and 12 year-​old) Girl Scout troop visited today and it was great! We spent about an hour there, and everyone learned something new, even the parents (who are knowledgeable about local sea life). The friendly volunteers went out of their way to engage everyone.
There are 6 or more aquariums, and two touch tanks. They even have food available to feed the starfish with. After entering, there are interactive displays showing how to measure water health via visibility, and a place to look through a few microscopes at plankton and other organisms. Very cool!
Although only open on Saturdays for 4 hours, this is a great place for HCC students to share with and educate others. It’s a wonderful place for kids to learn and be excited about learning, hard to believe it’s free!

This aquarium opened in the summer of 2008 — it is run by Highline Community College and in my opinion — a waste of your tax dollars! They are only open on Saturdays from 10 – 2. It is basically a classroom for a HCC marine biology class. We went there with a group of 50 from our preschool. We stood out in the rain and cold waiting for someone to show up for our field trip. After we finally hunted someone down at HCC they said the person who was suppose to show up had the stomach flu — did they want us to send someone else? What do you think, you MORONS? Finally 50 minutes after our field trip was suppose to start someone showed up. She spoke very little English and in no way knew you to engage children (she must have drawn the short straw!). The «aquarium» itself was 4 fish tanks and 2 flat tanks. Luckily, the preschool teacher is quite educated on marine life — so she did her thing with the kids. Don’t waste your time making a special trip to come here — go to the Seattle Aquarium or better yet — hop a plane and go to the Shed Aquarium in Chicago! It’s worth the cost of the plane ride!