A spur-of-the-moment visit to SeaQuest in Roseville earlier this month did not last nearly as long as Tiffany Vang expected it to after she and family members paid to enter the aquarium inside the Rosedale Center mall. 

“It supposedly takes an hour to get through everything but we got [through] in, like, 20 minutes because my niece just felt so uncomfortable,” Vang said. 

Her one-star review of SeaQuest on Google expressed concerns for the condition of the interactive aquarium’s sloth, capybara and porcupines, but Vang also noticed something else about the facility’s massive stingray tank.

“There’s like towels on the ground, there’s foam, it was leaking,” Vang said. “I told my sister we’re never going there ever again.”

Yet at the time of Vang’s visit, SeaQuest managers were already aware that their leaking tank was “critically close to failure,” according to internal communications, state records and other documents recently obtained by 5 INVESTIGATES. 

“Can become a projectile”

Multiple former SeaQuest employees say concerns about the leaking tank started almost as soon as the Roseville location opened in 2019.

But internal company messages to and from SeaQuest National Husbandry Director Katie Hastings reveal the situation seemed to become much more urgent in late May. 

“I don’t know if this is, like, critically close to failure or what because I can hear cracking — literally hear cracking over here,” Hastings said in a video message referencing a noticeable leak coming from inside a small glass tunnel under part of the tank.

Neither SeaQuest nor Hastings immediately responded to requests for comment. In response to past reporting by 5 INVESTIGATES and ABC News, the company said the health and safety of its animals was its “number one priority.”  

“It just felt … almost like they just wanted to, unfortunately, just get your money,” Vang said. 

More internal messages show the concern about the potential failure of the tank only got worse this summer. 

Hastings asked a SeaQuest colleague out of state if the tank could fail.

“It could at any point, considering the condition,” he wrote to a group of employees including Hastings. “Be careful. That is a lot of weight and pressure. If it does fail that panel can become a projectile.”

Calls for action

This week 5 INVESTIGATES found the small tunnel under the tank, once used by children, was blocked off. Sandbags held back leaking water and a fan was set up to dry the floor. 

Email records show an associate director with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) contacted City of Roseville code enforcement about the same leak in 2022 citing the risk of a “catastrophic failure,” but the city referred PETA’s complaint to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal Plant and Health Inspection Service.

An inspection report by Minnesota OSHA in 2023 noted “Underwater tunnel seam leaks,” but cited unnamed “contacts” who said, at the time, that the leaks “are not structural and will not cause a safety concern.” 

It is unknown what additional action, if any, was taken by authorities regarding the tank, but broader concerns about the safety of animals and guests at SeaQuest have been gaining attention since a joint national investigation by 5 INVESTIGATES and ABC News in February. 

The SeaQuest location in Minnesota is one of seven still operating across the country. 

The company’s controversial founder and CEO Vince Covino announced he was stepping down earlier this month. 

“It’s catching fire and people are outraged, rightfully so,” said Ashley Riddle, co-president of the Animal Rights Coalition of Minnesota. 

Riddle and others helped organize a series of protests outside SeaQuest Roseville throughout the summer. 

The organization’s TikTok video about the leaking tank at SeaQuest has been viewed more than 240,000 times. 

“It seems like a no-brainer,” Riddle said. “Fix it while you can before disaster strikes.”