The parent company of a controversial New Jersey aquarium filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, saying its debts included more than $381,000 in back rent due to one of the state’s largest malls.
SeaQuest Holdings filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 2, according to federal court records. The Boise, Idaho-based company owns several aquariums, including a location it opened in Woodbridge Center mall in Middlesex County in 2019.
According to the bankruptcy filing, SeaQuest owes Woodbridge Center nearly $381,223 in unpaid rent dating back to last year.
SeaQuest officials did not respond to a request to comment. Spinoso Real Estate Group, which leases and manages Woodbridge Center, also did not immediately respond to a request to comment.
The state Department of Environmental Protection issued SeaQuest’s Woodbridge location several citations and placed it on probation in September 2023 after years of animal abuse allegations.
Officials from the state Department of Environmental Protection declined to comment on the bankruptcy filing.
SeaQuest’s probation was scheduled to end after a year, but state officials sent SeaQuest a letter in June outlining corrective actions the company allegedly failed to take. The probation was extended indefinitely.
The violations included conditions that allowed animals in the SeaQuest aquarium to attack each other for years, poorly constructed enclosures, inadequate veterinary records and animals found with missing limbs, the June 25 letter from state officials said.
Two anonymous complaints provided the state with detailed information about the alleged violations, including videos and photographs, state officials said. An expert veterinary witness also interpreted the company’s limited veterinary records and submitted necropsies.
The company operates four sites in other states where visitors can observe about 300 species of animals, including stingrays, sharks, turtles, snakes, lizards and birds, SeaQuest’s website said. Visitors can pet some of the animals and pay for additional activities, including snorkeling with stingrays.
Before SeaQuest opened in New Jersey, animal rights activists protested at the Woodbridge Center site. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, also known as PETA, also sent a letter to the state, urging it to block the aquarium from opening.
A few months after it opened, three young goats were voluntarily removed from SeaQuest after complaints from animal activists.
Some of SeaQuest’s locations in other states, including Colorado and Connecticut, have closed.
The company’s sites have failed government inspections, received citations for failing to request documents to import animals, and allegedly mistreated hundreds of animals. Guests have also been injured by the animals, according to an ABC News investigation earlier this year.
The company has been cited more than 80 times in the past five years by several government agencies, including the U.S. Department of Agriculture, ABC reported.
Research editor Vinessa Erminio contributed to this report.
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Brianna Kudisch may be reached at bkudisch@njadvancemedia.com.
