When Blathers Meets Sharks: Animal Crossing Takes Over SEA LIFE Birmingham

Think walking trails, animal hunting and stamp collecting – the Animal Crossing event at SEA LIFE Birmingham is a dream come true for gamers and aquarium lovers. If you’re like me (who has spent over 700 hours playing the game), you’ll be super excited to be able to meet Isabelle or Tom Nook at the aquarium! You’ll embark on a sea life adventure around the aquarium, where you’ll be collecting character stamps, filling out the fun-filled Animal Crossing leaflet and learning all about your favourite animals!

There are 11 stamps to collect, each being the face of a beloved Animal Crossing Character and puzzles to solve on your leaflet!

Can you spot Gulliver on your adventure?

Grab your SEA LIFE Birmingham tickets below!

SEA LIFE Birmingham is pretty simple to get to! Located at The Water’s Edge in Brindleyplace, it’s just a short stroll from Birmingham New Street station.​

Okay, so I knew I was going to love this, but nothing prepared me for how ridiculously adorable the Animal Crossing event at SEA LIFE Birmingham actually was. From the moment I walked in and was greeted by Tom Nook’s nephews – Timmy and Tommy’s – smiling faces (minus the looming loan repayments), I was in – like, full-on “bring me my net and fishing rod” mode.

The whole SEA LIFE Birmingham aquarium was already an underwater wonderland (which I’ve never visited before!), and I was entirely in awe of the atmosphere. With the Animal Crossing crossover, magical marine life met Nintendo nostalgia.

When you walk in, there’s a cute photo opportunity with cut outs of Timmy, Tommy and Pascal, which was adorable!

We then made our way to the penguin enclosure and watched the penguins sleeping, standing up, and having a little play around. Just past the enclosure is where you can collect your Animal Crossing stamp sheet and activity leaflet – don’t forget your pencils! Your Animal Crossing adventure then begins!

We followed the themed trail that took me from character cutouts to fact-finding boards – courtesy of Blathers – who gave us interesting facts about all sorts of creatures! Even the SEA LIFE staff had been made into Animal Crossing characters and were added to the fact boards, which was a personal touch for them. On each Blather’s fact board, was a lone letter in the corner, which on the back of your activity leaflet, can make a word if you find them all!

Along our journey around SEA LIFE Birmingham, we saw clownfish, jellyfish, huge bass and even sea otters! We had to wait around for them a little bit, but we did get a cute video of one of the otters itching its head!

Of course, the real excitement came from the stamps! We collected all of them, from Molly and Peanut to Alfonso, Rod and even Aurora got a shout-out! Getting to see real-life counterparts of the fish I used to catch at 5am on my virtual island was pretty cool – hello, majestic stingrays and slightly terrifying moray eels.

There was a Gulliver hunt (yes, I did it), you had to figure out where he had been washed up and stranded, I’m not going to tell you exactly where he is because that’s up to you to find out! But it was super fun seeing him right in front of my eyes, instead of washed up on a beach in my screen. Don’t forget, you got to meet either Isabelle or Tom Nook at the end of your journey! She’s just as sweet in person, if not sweeter. Do I know she’s not real? Duh. Did I still get happy seeing her and grin like a Cheshire cat? Of course! No regrets. I wanted to see Tom Nook too, but they each come out every 30 minutes, so we were unable to!

Then we made our way to the gift shop and it was an overload of Animal Crossing – and in the best way! From plushies of Tom Nook, Isabelle and some of your favourite characters to mugs, keychains and even LEGO! I got myself a £9 LEGO set of Celeste and her stargazing, it’s super cute and I’m very excited to build it.

Honestly, it felt like Animal Crossing had packed its bags and moved into Birmingham for a while. Perfect for families, gamers, or literally anyone who loves marine life and wholesome vibes. Whether you’re dodging rain showers or just looking for a cute day out – this Animal Crossing x SEA LIFE event? 10/10. Would visit again (and probably will before it ends).

Don’t forget we sell tickets to SEA LIFE Centres too!

The event will be travelling to:

• SEA LIFE Brighton from 24th May – 15th June
• SEA LIFE London from 30th June – 27th July
• SEA LIFE Chessington World of Adventures from 1st – 31st August

Make sure you don’t miss out!