The Original Sea-Monkeys Ocean Zoo Review

“After hundreds of years, The Original Sea-Monkeys are back!”

This was what we heard back in January when the commercial for the new Original Sea-Monkeys® was released. Touting a new tank design and USA produced packets, everyone in the Sea-Monkey fan community was eagerly waiting to get their hands on this new kit. Fast forward to April and it’s finally here, the all new Original Sea Monkeys Ocean Zoo®!

The Ocean Zoo Kit comes in three colors, Blue, Orange, and Pink. While Blue is the standard color, Orange and Pink are something that were never seen before (not entirely true, there was a short run of Ocean Zoos marketed towards girls in the early 2000’s). It also includes the complete Instant Life kit, feeding spoon and instructions.

The Ocean Zoo itself is a brand new design with larger magnifying bubbles and an awesome embossed logo on the lid. It’s nice to see the new producer, Dragon-i took the time to refresh the almost 40 year design of the tank. Later in 2018, they are also releasing a larger tank called “Ocean Adventure”.

"Ocean Adventure"
(Diaframma llc/ Dragon-i)

Another great addition to the new Sea-Monkeys is a redesigned feeding spoon. Again, Dragon-i improved the original design by making it larger and easier to hold. Not to mention there’s also an adorable Sea-Monkey imprint on it.

By far, the most exciting part of the new kit is the return of packets made in the USA. If you don’t know, the previous producers of “The Amazing Live Sea-Monkeys” were said to have been selling counterfeit packets made in China. Now all the packets are again made in Maryland like they were since the 1980s. This means higher quality eggs and longer living Sea-Monkeys.

After almost 5 years of struggle, it’s great to see the Sea-Monkeys brand return to shelves. I have a feeling this is only the beginning for The Original Sea-Monkeys®. Dragon-i seems really enthusiastic about their new brand. Hopefully we will see more unique kits in the future that will inspire kids to study science and nature.


New contributor, Lucas (Benneluke) is a graphic designer and runs the website, seamonkeymuseum.weebly.com, a collection of Sea-Monkey memorabilia. He also builds plastic, paper, and metal model kits.