I am fascinated by aquariums. The first one that grabbed my attention was the Oceanographic at Monaco, then the Aquarium Barcelona at Barcelona, Ocean Park at Hong Kong, Nausicaa Centre National de la Mer at Boulogne-sur-Mer France, Vancouver Aquarium at Vancouver, Sea World at San Diego, Osaka Aquarium at Osaka, and I realize that I have not even seen one of the top 10 biggest aquariums in the world!
It was not easy getting to the Nagoya Aquarium. From the Sakae subway station, I took the Meijo/Meiko Line Subway Line to Nagoyako Station but had to inquire because every second train on the Meijo Line operates on the Meiko Line runs to Negoyako Station. Not being able to read Japanese certainly did not help. A group of giggling young girls failed to convey to me the instruction until a Japanese woman who speaks English came to the rescue and told me "next, next train".
There are two buildings: the North Building contains one of the largest outdoor tanks in the world and is equipped with a stand that can seat up to 3000 spectators. Here, the audience is treated to dolphin performances. The shows are displayed on high vision screens, making it easy to see the details. Alas, I wasn't prepared to hang around for an hour for the next show, so I gave it a miss.
Once inside the Aquarium (and it was a relief from the baking sun), I had a whale (sic) of a time. My all-time favourite was the sardine tornado, played to some exciting music that recorded the swoosh and the swish of a torrent of sardines. Young and old alike were mesmerized.
My next favourite was the jelly fish. Such a graceful creature, floating in the tank like a carefree cloud in the blue sky. I watched the jelly fish danced for ages.
It was not easy getting to the Nagoya Aquarium. From the Sakae subway station, I took the Meijo/Meiko Line Subway Line to Nagoyako Station but had to inquire because every second train on the Meijo Line operates on the Meiko Line runs to Negoyako Station. Not being able to read Japanese certainly did not help. A group of giggling young girls failed to convey to me the instruction until a Japanese woman who speaks English came to the rescue and told me "next, next train".
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The Port of Nagoya Public Aquarium |
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The stand for watching dolphin shows |
The South Building starts off in the waters of Japan, journey through the deep seas where strange creatures live, pass through the equatorial seas with their colourful fish, and are treated to the sight of sea turtles, which have been successfully spawned in captivity, and penguins living comfortably in a habitat recreating the Antarctic environment.
Once inside the Aquarium (and it was a relief from the baking sun), I had a whale (sic) of a time. My all-time favourite was the sardine tornado, played to some exciting music that recorded the swoosh and the swish of a torrent of sardines. Young and old alike were mesmerized.
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Tornado of sardines, Nagoya Acquarium |
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A ballerina of a jelly fish |
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Corals, corals, corals |
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Japanese spider crab |
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A dolphin and its trainer |
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Beluga whales in a mock settingThe sky is just a canvas |
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A sea turtle |
