NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. — Big changes are in the works up at the Aquarium of Niagara.
Leaders there released a new strategic plan to help grow over the next few years. That includes plans to enhance the facility and visitor experience and to focus more on the aquarium's role in conservation.
One of the goals for the aquarium is to expand and create a more realistic habitat for the seals and sea lions living there.
"We want a little bit more rock work, kind of mimicking what their natural habitat would be like," Hallie Torre, a senior trainer, said. "On the California coast, they're going to be climbing on lots of rocks and all that stuff, so that's what we're going to want to mimic for them."
The first big change visitors will notice will be the new stingray touch pool scheduled to open this June.