Sea Life Kelly Tarlton's remains closed after Auckland floods damage cliff above

Tuesday, 7 February 2023

Cliffs have been gouged in the north, centre and west of Auckland, Yvonne Tahana reports.

Auckland tourist attraction Kelly Tarlton’s remains closed to the public after severe wet weather and flooding caused cliff damage above the aquarium.

Sea Life aquarium operator Merlin Entertainment said Kelly Tarlton’s would remain closed until at least February 10 while Auckland Council assessed the cliff area above the attraction.

Kelly Tarlton’s said its sea animals remained safe and well.

The attraction has been closed since February 1.

The aquarium experienced minor flooding in some areas of the attraction and its lift damaged by water and now out of action after severe storms hit the Auckland and the Northland region last week.

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Kelly Tarlton’s is often visited by families and school children from across the country.

Dan Henderson, general manager of Sea Life Kelly Tarlton’s, said the water had been cleaned up and was ready to open as soon as Auckland Council advised it was safe to do so.

Auckland Council had not advised as to when it would conduct its full “Geotech assessment” on the cliff area above the aquarium, he said.

The wet weather caused widespread slips across Auckland, and in the Parnell and Orakei area where Kelly Tarlton’s is located, a number of luxury houses remain at risk of falling as they teeter on cliff edges.

Coastal areas have been hit hard by the flooding and those living in homes built near the edges of cliffs have lost their backyards and gardens.

Kelly Tarlton’s first closed on January 28, the day after the first Auckland storm, and closed again on February 1 after the second storm and following Auckland Council’s rapid building assessment concerning the cliff area behind the aquarium.

Henderson said the closure came at an unfortunate time following a rocky couple of years.

Kelly Tarlton’s is currently closed to the public.

“After a really solid start to the year with the opening of the $1.6 million Sea Cave Adventure exhibit in January, and strong visitation during the summer and school holidays, it is very unfortunate that we’re now temporarily closed,” said Henderson.

“The safety and wellbeing of our staff and guests remain our main priority and we are incredibly grateful to our team, guests and our parent company – Merlin Entertainments – who have been very supportive during the closure. We’re looking forward to re-opening our doors as soon as we can and continuing to create amazing memories for our local and international guests this year and confident that we have a strong year ahead of us.”

In 2021, Kelly Tarlton’s began work on the redevelopment of its Sea Cave Adventure exhibit as part of wider plans to rejuvenate the underwater attraction.

The new cave and rock pool-themed attraction was inspired by the Hauraki Gulf’s native marine life. Specialist tanks from overseas were imported for the exhibition.

The project had been in the pipeline for two years and was supposed to have been completed by the end of 2021, however, its initial plans were delayed due to disruption from the Covid-19 pandemic.

The aquarium was hit badly by Covid-19 and subsequent lockdowns, and the border closures to tourists. For a long period of time it was operating with reduced trading hours and bookings, relying solely on domestic visitors, however, visitor numbers appeared to have returned to normal levels in the last year.

Kelly Tarlton's was founded by avid diver Kelly Tarlton in 1985, who died just six weeks after the aquarium opened. The aquarium has had multiple owners since then and was acquired by Merlin Entertainment and rebranded to Sea Life Kelly Tarlton's in 2011.

Kelly Tarlton’s received a $500,000 Strategic Tourism Assets Protection Programme grant from the Government in 2020.