SANDY -- The Living Planet Aquarium will soon be closing its doors as workers prepare to move fish, penguins, sharks, otters and other animals to a new facility in Draper.
The new building is definitely designed to be an aquarium where this building was kind of retro-fitted to be an aquarium," said Austin Strebel, Visitor Experience Coordinator for the aquarium.
Some of the fish can be moved to the new aquarium in five gallon buckets, while other animals will have to be moved in special vans with oxygen and heating equipment.
"When we're moving fish, the water parameters are huge. We have to make sure that those tanks match up with the water they were previously in when we move them, so a lot is going to go in to moving these animals," said Deana Valz, Lead Aviculturalist at the aquarium.
The penguins have to be moved to the new facility on a cold day because they'll get sick in temperatures warmer than 50 degrees.
The existing aquarium will be closed as of September 10 and the new facility is expected open in December.
