Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
| Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium | ||
|---|---|---|
| particularities | second largest aquarium in the world | |
| place | 424 Ishikawa, Motobu-cho, Kunigami-gun, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan | |
| surface | 19,000 m² | |
| opening | November 1, 2002 | |
| Animal species | 740 species | |
| Individuals | approx. 26,000 animals | |
| Species focus | Fish and other aquatic life | |
| Visitor numbers | approx. 2 million visitors annually | |
| organization | ||
 Main entrance of the |
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| www.kaiyouhaku.com | ||
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Coordinates: 26 ° 41 ′ 39.8 ″ N , 127 ° 52 ′ 40.6 ″ E
The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium ( Japanese 沖 縄 美 ら 海 水族館 , Okinawa churaumi suizokukan ; Churaumi means "beautiful sea") is the second largest aquarium in the world (after the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta) and part of the Ocean Expo Park in Motobu ( Okinawa Prefecture ) in Japan . The name of the aquarium is based on an old Okinawa dialect and was written out in a nationwide survey. The Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium opened on November 1st, 2002 after a 4-year construction period. Every year it is visited by around 2 million visitors.
The attachment
There are 77 basins that are flooded with a total of 10,000 m³ (10,000,000 liters), with the main basin - the Kuroshio Sea - already having a volume of 7,500 m³ (7,500,000 liters).
Coral pool
The coral pool is home to over 70 different types of coral. The water temperature is kept at 20 to 25 ° C, so that the corals are now reproducing excellently.
Deep sea basin
The water temperature in the deep sea basin is only 5 ° C. The resulting waste heat, which arises during the cooling of the deep sea basin, is used for heating z. B. of the coral basin, so that a kind of heat recycling takes place.
Main basin
The main pool is the main attraction. In addition to many smaller fish, it contains several manta rays and whale sharks . There are currently only three aquariums worldwide to admire whale sharks and manta rays are kept captive in only four zoo aquariums worldwide. The first whale shark ever could be seen in Japan in 1994. Keeping whale sharks is also very difficult, but the oldest whale shark in the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium is over 12 years old and the oldest shark is even 28 years old. Whale sharks eat around 8% of their own body mass per week - that is 1/4 t for the heaviest specimen. Since whale sharks also mostly eat vertically, and the longest whale shark in the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium is 7.5 m long (with a further growth of approx. ½ m per year) - the main tank is 10 m high.
The main pool sets another record: the visitors are separated from the fish by the largest pane of glass in the world (which is actually made of plastic - acrylic glass ), it is in the Guinness Book of Records . The construction of the 22 meter long and 8.2 meter high pane of glass took 1 ½ years. Since the giant panorama pane works without any support struts, it is 60 centimeters thick. These consist of 15 glass pane packages - each 40 mm thick - which in turn each consist of 7 panes - a total of 105 pane layers. Not only does it withstand the pressure of 6 tons per m² (60,000 Pascal ), it is also earthquake-proof . With the resulting weight of 134 t, it was delivered and assembled in several individual segments. A disadvantage of the disc is its soft consistency. If, for example, a shark brushes against the pane with a fin, scratches occur which impair the transparency of the pane.
In addition to the indoor pools, there are outdoor facilities, a restaurant and a shop.
Water circulation in the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium
Most of the pools contain salt water that comes from the nearby sea. 360,000 liters of fresh water can be pumped into the aquarium per hour.
The pools are networked with each other via water pipes, so that 3,000 m³ (3,000,000 liters) of water circulate per hour. In the coral pool, the water is changed once an hour in summer.
With the help of 102 filter pumps, the use of chemicals can be dispensed with entirely. It is not even necessary to use chlorine .
energy
In order to protect the precious fish in the aquarium even in the event of a power failure, there are two in-house power generators.
Animal procurement
At the moment around 70% of all animals in the tanks come from our own rearing. Only 30% are caught in the wild. After 374 days of gestation, a manta ray was born in captivity for the first time on June 16, 2007 in the aquarium. However, the 1.90 meter tall female was killed by her father a few days after birth.
Some animals are also released back into the sea. When the corals spawn, the majority of the eggs are transported back into the sea due to the water circulation.
Dolphin "Fuji"
The dolphin Fuji, born in 1970, suffered from necrosis caused by an accident in 2002 and could only be saved by amputating her caudal fin, as only 25% of this remained due to her illness. Due to the lack of exercise that followed, she became overweight. Therefore, the tire manufacturer Bridgestone offered to build an artificial tail fin for Fuji. In 2004, she was the first of its kind to receive a new, artificial tail fin made of silicone rubber , which weighs 2.2 kg, is 70 cm wide and 25 cm long and is about ten million yen (80,000 euros, as of January 2003) expensive. The dolphin quickly got used to it and moved with it a lot again. In fact, it was so active that it once broke its artificial tail fin. During her lifetime, she wore seven different versions as the artificial fin replacement was constantly being improved. Fuji died in 2014 at the age of 45 due to liver damage.
Web links
- Aquarium website - Japanese and English
- Stern article about giant aquariums
- HD video showing the largest container
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l Aquarium of superlatives from the series Moderne Wunder , broadcast on April 30, 2009 on n-tv, 9:10 p.m. to 9:55 p.m.
- ↑ About the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium ( Memento of the original from February 16, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ DNews: Fuji, the First Dolphin with a Prosthetic Fin, Dies. In: Science. World. Exploration. Seek for yourself. Retrieved June 8, 2016 .
