Henry Doorly Zoo Alaskan Adventure

Omaha Nebraska

The $14 million Alaskan Adventure water feature at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska is designed to help teach kids how Alaskan marine animals live and move in the wild.

As kids play among the attraction’s 75 bronze sculptures, including an 18-foot Humpback whale, 30 jumping salmon, 25 puffins and 15 sea lions, they are learning about the animals in their own environment.

OTL completed the mechanical and electrical work for the whimsical water feature, which systematically sprays a mix of water and air through nozzles strategically arranged around the sculptures created by Nebraskan artist Matthew Placzek.

KEY SERVICES

  • Interactive Fountain
  • Water Feature Construction
  • Mechanical Systems
  • Waterproofing
Mechanical Features

IDEA

The attraction offers kids both joy and learning opportunities as they play in the splash ground’s computerize-controlled water effects, which simulate splashes and sounds made by Alaskan sea animals as they breech, porpoise, splash, spray water from their blowholes, and emerge from or dive into the ocean.

The centerpiece of Alaskan Adventure is an 18-foot-high humpback whale which has water trailing from its extended fins. A whale’s tail is a separate sculpture and is 16 feet wide and eight feet tall with water flowing from the edge as it appears to submerge for a deep dive.

“ After six years of planning, fundraising and construction, I couldn’t be happier with the finished product ” Dennis Pate // Zoo Directory , CEO

IMPACT

  • After completion the Zoo broke all previous attendance records with over 2 million visitors.
  • USA Today Report that states the Henry Doorly Zoo was the most Instagrammed site in the entire state of Nebraska for 2016.

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