Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
IDAHO FALLS — Six former employees say the East Idaho Aquarium seriously mistreated many animals in its care, which resulted in more than 2,000 animal deaths in the past five years. Aquarium management says the accusations don't tell the full story.
The whistleblowers are speaking publicly about their experiences at the aquarium and have contacted People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals with concerns about overcrowding, inadequate care for sick fish and a high mortality rate.
"We're the voice for the animals," said former husbandry team member Erika Dillon, who worked for the aquarium for six months starting in August 2023. "They can't speak for themselves. … It was the safety and well-being of the animals that I just was extremely concerned about and still am."
East Idaho Aquarium Executive Director Arron Faires acknowledges the aquarium's "growing pains" in the past but said the facility has made dramatic improvements in the last two years, reducing annual animal deaths by more than 73% between 2021 and 2023.
"We put a huge focus on the health of the animals," he said. "We take those numbers very seriously. … The reality of it is that we have lost those animals, but we are not losing them in those numbers anymore."
The aquarium, which has operated for seven years at 570 E. Anderson Street in Idaho Falls, is home to 2,143 animals and 204 species. More than 100,000 annual visitors can touch and feed stingrays, giant river fish, saltwater fish, trout, iguanas and more.
EastIdahoNews.com spent weeks conducting extensive interviews with Faires, current and former aquarium employees and volunteers to discuss the allegations. EastIdahoNews.com also spoke to the aquarium's veterinarian, Dr. Nicole Seda-Boone of Eagle Rock Veterinary Clinic, along with regulatory agencies and staff at other aquariums for context.
"The aquarium puts in a large amount of effort to provide appropriate care for their animals," Seda-Boone wrote to EastIdahoNews.com.
During EastIdahoNews.com's visits to the aquarium, the animals that were observed appeared healthy, and the exhibits were clean, interactive and well-kept.
Despite that, former employees and volunteers say there were significant problems. Parakeets being stepped on during feedings with visitors, mass stingray die-offs, repeated malfunctioning tank equipment and three dead baby sharks are among the major allegations.
EastIdahoNews.com has been hearing from former aquarium employees about problems for several years. However, most tipsters wanted to remain anonymous and declined to speak on the record.
But in June, EastIdahoNews.com received a 16-page declaration from former aquarium employee Kristopher Lasswell with 56 accusations, 55 photographs and 15 videos, which he submitted to PETA, alleging what he considered to be significant issues resulting in animal neglect, disease and death at the aquarium.
On Sept. 17, PETA sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, requesting an investigation into "numerous Animal Welfare Act violations" concerning the birds in this facility.
PETA also alleges that 2,028 fish and other animals died between June 2019 and September 2022, citing records the aquarium submitted to the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, which EastIdahoNews.com reporters have reviewed.
Whistleblower allegations
The declaration's author, Lasswell, worked for three months as the East Idaho Aquarium's lead aquarist from Aug. 25 to Dec. 17, 2023, after graduating from university two months earlier in biology.
"Throughout my employment, I raised concerns multiple times about health and welfare issues with many of the animals. I believe I was let go because of this," Lasswell wrote.
EastIdahoNews.com requested an interview with Lasswell, but he responded that he is now an employee for another news media company and has a noncompete agreement. However, EastIdahoNews.com spoke with several other former employees involved in the creation of the declaration.
The report focuses primarily on Lasswell's observations but also includes accounts from a former animal curator, freshwater lead, saltwater lead and members of the husbandry team about events between March 2021 and January 2024.
In the declaration, Lasswell and the other whistleblowers report dozens of instances of animal death and neglect.
On Sept. 8, 2023, a mother blackfin shark gave birth to four baby pups in the shark tank. At the advice of professionals from the Shedd Aquarium, the baby sharks were removed from the tank to protect them from being eaten by the mother and two male sharks.
They were added to the stingray exhibit, the only other tank in the aquarium large enough to provide space for the sharks. However, within three weeks, three of the baby sharks died.
