SeaQuest CEO steps down amid allegations of animal neglect at aquarium chain

Six months after an ABC News investigation uncovered allegations of animal neglect and human injury at SeaQuest, a popular interactive aquarium chain with locations across the nation, the company's CEO Vince Covino announced in a video that he would be stepping down from his position.

The three-minute video, which was sent to employees on Wednesday and was obtained by Sacramento ABC affiliate KXTV, shows Covino saying he's "loved connecting animals and humans" and that he would be taking a new job at another company, although he did not specify where.

"I have so much love and have been through so many difficult things, as we've had our fair share of challenges," Covino said. "Some of those I've brought on myself just through mistakes, but as you know, always doing my best. I'm thrilled with the direction this company is moving going forward."

SeaQuest did not respond to ABC News' request for comment.

A representative of the Humane Society of the United States applauded the news.

"We are hopeful that the news of Vince Covino stepping down as CEO of SeaQuest marks the beginning of the end of this deplorable, cruel business that abuses animals day after day in seven states," said Laura Hagen, the Humane Society's director of captive wildlife.

But Hagen said the move was far from sufficient.

"SeaQuest needs to do far more than replace its current CEO to improve conditions for the many animals exploited at its pathetic indoor exotic animal petting zoos. The company denies countless animals their most basic needs, including access to fresh air and natural sunlight, proper nutrition and medical care, and the freedom to not be handled by the public and bombarded by loud noises and chaos all day long," Hagen said.

Covino's announcement comes amid mounting scrutiny of SeaQuest and its treatment of animals.

In June, the New Jersey Department of Environment Protection filed a 32-page notice of violation against the SeaQuest facility located at the Woodbridge Center Mall. The notice described, in part, alleged incidents where animals had escaped their enclosures, where SeaQuest had failed to provide aid to injured animals, and where the company had allowed unauthorized interactions between the public and its animals.

The notice warned that SeaQuest Woodbridge had failed to comply with numerous state laws and was in jeopardy of having their wildlife confiscated.

"It was like a dice roll what animals got to see the vet," Kalen Whitney, a former SeaQuest Woodbridge employee, told ABC News earlier this year. Whitney, who worked at the Woodbridge location from 2021-2022, alleged there were frequent roach infestations in the facility and that she believed that management was "super out for money."

SeaQuest told ABC News earlier this year that many of their animals at their Woodbridge location were rescues, and that they had acquired many animals in poor health that they "worked diligently to rescue," but that several were "too unhealthy to save." They told ABC News that the health and safety of their animals is their top priority, saying that "with hundreds of employees and thousands of animals, injury and [animal] mortality, though very rare, exist."

But an ABC News investigation in collaboration with affiliate stations KXTV, KSTP and KTNV earlier this year found that nine SeaQuest locations were cited more than 80 times in the past five years by federal and state government agencies for issues ranging from potential disease hazards to the inadequate care of animals, which in some cases led to animal deaths.

Some employees alleged that management did not like it when they tried to raise concerns.

"They did not like me for that," said Whitney, who was fired after a year of employment.

SeaQuest said that Whitney was fired for subpar performance and a lack of safety adherence, but Whitney disputes that, saying she does not believe that she was terminated for making mistakes.

In an investigative report last month, KXTV spoke to over a dozen former SeaQuest employees who provided photos and videos of allegedly neglected animals, including those that appeared to be hurt or dead.

"You're not allowed to feed any of the animals anymore," former employee Kaitlyn Johnson told KXTV. "It strictly needs to be just what people are paying for. And then you're watching animals not eat because they're being partially starved."

In total, more than 25 former SeaQuest employees have come forward to ABC News and its affiliates -- some of them requesting their identities be hidden due to concerns about possible retaliation and because of the nondisclosure agreement they signed when they first started their employment.

Earlier this year, SeaQuest filed a lawsuit against Lana Westbrook, a former marketing coordinator for the company, accusing Westbrook of criticizing SeaQuest on multiple social media platforms in violation of a nondisclosure agreement she signed in 2019.

Westbrook's attorneys said in court that SeaQuest's lawsuit was an unlawful tactic to try and intimidate critics, which SeaQuest denied.

"I think SeaQuest is desperate," Westbrook's attorney Steffen Seitz told ABC Minneapolis affiliate KSTP.

"I think that over the years, the bad press, discontent from former employees, violations of state and federal laws -- these things have added up, and so they're desperate to do whatever they can to intimidate anyone else from speaking out further," Seitz said.

SeaQuest did not respond to requests for comment but said in court that Westbrook was not being sued for First Amendment activities.