Once proclaimed the fastest-growing zoo and aquarium in the world, SeaQuest is now asking a judge to approve a sale of the entire company for $80,000.

The motion filed in federal bankruptcy court late last week would transfer all of the company’s assets, including hundreds of exotic animals, to Z&A Management LLC and Jeff Cox, who already owns a 4-percent stake in SeaQuest.

The company currently operates five interactive aquariums in shopping malls across the country, including one location at the Rosedale Center in Roseville. 

The chain has come under increasing scrutiny from state and federal authorities after a year of investigative reporting by 5 INVESTIGATES and ABC News revealed repeated incidents putting animals, guests, and employees in danger. 

“The Debtor does not have sufficient cash on hand or potential future sales to sustain the operations,” SeaQuest wrote in a motion to the court. “If the sale does not occur before the middle to end of February, the welfare of the animals… will be in jeopardy.”

SeaQuest and Cox did not immediately respond to requests for comment Monday, but the company’s reference to “animal welfare” stands out to advocates such as Ashley Riddle, co-president of the Animal Rights Coalition of Minnesota.

“I think it’s shocking that they’re finally admitting this,” Riddle said. “But it’s also just so apparent between the USDA inspections, the whistleblowers who have come forward… Like we’ve known this all along – the animal welfare has been endangered the entire time they’ve been operating.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently cited SeaQuest Roseville for a lack of “adequate veterinary care” for two wallabies at the aquarium.

“I don’t know what’s in store, but I really hope that this new buyer will just wash his hands of this,” Riddle said. “Get these animals to safe places and be done.”

Court records, however, suggest that might not be the plan for SeaQuest. 

In the government’s opposition to the proposed sale, it notes that SeaQuest CEO Aaron Neilsen would stay on with “SeaQuest 2.0 (or whatever new name, brand, or label they give the new company).”

The “fire sale value of the assets” and the fact that SeaQuest has not entertained bids from other prospective buyers stands out to Alex Beeby, a Minneapolis bankruptcy attorney who is not involved in the case. 

“And ‘we’re not going to let anyone else bid on this.’ Those are two red flags,” Beeby said. “We’re talking about animals here. We don’t actually know what they’re worth.”

The Acting United States Trustee, the government’s watchdog in the bankruptcy process, pushed back on the notion that the welfare of the animals at SeaQuest depends on the swift sale of the company.

“This is irresponsible,” the Trustee wrote in a motion to the court. “If current management has allowed this scenario to develop… this is incompetence or gross mismanagement.”

The sale of SeaQuest still has to be approved by a federal bankruptcy judge who has set a hearing on the matter for the end of the month.