Protesters Return To Woodbridge Center Mall SeaQuest: 'Shut It Down'

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — The protesters against SeaQuest are back outside Woodbridge Center Mall.

At midday Sunday, about 40 protesters rallied outside the mall, demanding the state shut SeaQuest down. As Patch reported in July, the state of New Jersey put Woodbridge Center SeaQuest on a one-year probation (starting last September), after the state received multiple complaints about animals dying or being mistreated at the indoor aquarium on the first floor of the mall.

To date, 100 animals have died at the Woodbridge SeaQuest. NJ Fish & Wildlife said complaints about animal abuse there have been "numerous" and "legitimate."

If the Woodbridge SeaQuest does not comply with a number of demands — such as ending the unauthorized petting of animals, keeping sick animals away from healthy ones and supplying adequate food and water — they risk permanently losing their license from the state of New Jersey and will be shut down, Fish & Wildlife warned this year, in this publicly available letter.

SeaQuest CEO Vince Covino — who Patch interviewed in 2020 when his aquarium first opened in Woodbridge — resigned last week, he said to pursue other business ventures.

Covino's brother, Ammon Covino, was sentenced to federal prison in 2013 after he was convicted of conspiracy to commit illegal wildlife trafficking.

"There are currently coordinated efforts from activists around the country to shut SeaQuest down," said Tiffany Stair, one of the protesters out Sunday. "We will be holding regular protests at this location going forward."

Stair is the co-founder of an animal rights group called Revolution Philadelphia, which led the protest alongside Uncle Neil’s Home - A Farm Sanctuary and PETA, all there on Sunday.

"Activists recently visited SeaQuest Woodbridge and documented farmed animals cramped in a small enclosure, putting them at high risk for injury and death, being handled and fed by customers," she continued. "A potbelly pig named George lives in a small enclosure, completely alone. No fresh air, no sunlight, no windows for these animals, who traditionally live outdoors in herds. This is animal abuse."

Her group released this video of animals in captivity and the conditions at the Woodbridge Center Mall SeaQuest: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C-BAMytJE1V/?igsh=cTFwMzdtejZueGli

NJ SeaQuest Put On Probation After Nearly 100 Animals Died There (July 2024)

Owner Of SeaQuest Aquarium In Woodbridge Responds To Criticism (2020)