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Regular hours: 9:30 am – 6 pm
Last entry at 5 pm

Adult Volunteers

A white wave shape.

Thank you for your interest in volunteering with the Seattle Aquarium! As conservation leaders, our volunteers contribute significantly through a variety of roles to the Aquarium’s mission, Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment.

The volunteer opportunities described below are for adults who are 18+ and not enrolled in a high school, Running Start or homeschool program at time of application. For more information about our youth programs, please visit our Youth Ocean Advocates page.

Adult Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteer Habitat Interpretation

Registration for spring training is now open!

Habitat interpreters share their enthusiasm and stories about Aquarium animals with our guests, answer questions and facilitate conversations to help people better understand the marine environment.

Habitat Interpretation

Volunteer Divers

Aquarium divers share enthusiasm and stories about the animals in our care with Aquarium guests using underwater communication equipment while performing habitat maintenance and animal husbandry tasks.

Diver opportunities

Evening Event Habitat Volunteer Interpreters

At this time, we do not have any volunteer openings for this position.

The Aquarium hosts a variety of evening events, including fundraisers, weddings and corporate gatherings. Evening event habitat interpreters answer questions and facilitate conversations to help guests better understand the marine environment.

Evening Event Interpretation

Life Sciences Volunteers

At this time, we do not have any volunteer openings for this position.

Life sciences volunteers assist animal care staff with a variety of tasks, including habitat maintenance and diet preparation. All life sciences volunteers must complete new volunteer orientation and the new volunteer training series.

Life Sciences Opportunities

Background Check Information

The Aquarium conducts criminal background checks on all adult volunteers and staff members. All of our volunteers may work with children and vulnerable adults as part of their service at the Aquarium. A criminal background check is part of our due diligence to create a safe environment for our visitors, program participants, volunteers and staff, as well as the animals in our care.

With this in mind, there are specific convictions for crimes of violence, crimes against children, and animal abuse which may preclude someone from volunteering. If a criminal conviction in one of these categories comes back on a background check, we would have a conversation with the candidate to discuss the circumstances of the conviction before deciding on placement.

If you have any questions about our adult volunteer programs, please contact us at volunteers@seattleaquarium.org.

Service Levels Reached in 2022

In 2022, 804 volunteers donated 53,338 hours of service equivalent to 25 full-time staff to the Seattle Aquarium, representing an estimated donated value of over $1,597,473 toward our mission: Inspiring Conservation of Our Marine Environment.

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Website maintenance

Please note: Our ticketing and membership systems will be offline for approximately two hours starting at 9pm Pacific on Tuesday, February 20. During the maintenance window, online ticketing and membership will not be available.

Thank you for understanding.

Support the Seattle Aquarium

Two sea otters at the Seattle Aquarium floating on the water in their habitat, holding onto each other demonstrating a rafting behavior.

With your help, the Seattle Aquarium builds connections with our community to inspire conservation and curiosity for marine life. When you make an end-of-year gift by December 31, you'll be joining us in protecting our shared marine environment—now and for generations to come. Thank you!

An adult sea otter at the Seattle Aquarium looking upwards with its front paws resting on its front.

Giving Tuesday

Make a tax-deductible donation to the non-profit Seattle Aquarium

Your donation will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $10,000 thanks to a very generous anonymous donor!

Sea otter at the Seattle Aquarium laying on its back, raising its head and front paws.

Cyber weekend

Get 15% OFF all memberships!