Oceanarium

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The Oceanarium in Lisbon, Portugal

An oceanarium can be either a marine mammal park, such as MarineLand, or a large-

scale aquarium, such as the Lisbon Oceanarium, presenting an ocean habitat with marine animals,
especially large ocean dwellers such as sharks.

Contents

 1First marine mammal parks

 2SeaWorld
 3World's largest marine life park
 4Marine public aquariums
 5See also
 6Notes
 7Further reading
 8External links

First marine mammal parks[edit]

Main article: Marine mammal park
Marineland of Florida, one of the first theme parks in Florida, United States, started in 1938, claims
to be "the world's first oceanarium"
Marineland of Florida was developed as Marine Studios near St. Augustine in Marineland, Florida,
which was followed in Florida by Miami Seaquarium, opened in 1955 and in California by Marineland
of the Pacific, opened in 1954 near Los Angeles, and Marine World, Africa USA, opened in 1968
near San Francisco.

SeaWorld[edit]
Main article: SeaWorld
SeaWorld San Diego was opened in 1964, developed by four fraternity brothers Milt Shedd, Ken
Norris, David DeMott and George Millay. SeaWorld Aurora opened in 1970
near Cleveland, Ohio. SeaWorld Orlando was opened in 1973. SeaWorld (San Diego, Aurora,
Orlando) was sold to Harcourt Brace Jovanovich (a publishing company listed on the New York
Stock Exchange) in 1976. They purchased Marineland of the Pacific in 1986 and closed the park.
They had opened SeaWorld San Antonio in 1988. In 1989 they sold SeaWorld (San Diego, Aurora,
Orlando, San Antonio) to Anheuser-Busch, the world's largest brewer and owner of the Busch
Gardens Safari Parks, for US$1.1 billion. In 2001, Anheuser-Busch sold the Ohio park which finally
ceased its activities in 2004.

World's largest marine life park[edit]

Belugas swimming in the Abbott Oceanarium at the Shedd Aquarium. The lower level of the Oceanarium
allows underwater viewing of the beluga whales and the dolphins.

When the 170,000-square-foot Oceanarium at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago opened on April 27,
1991, it debuted as the largest indoor marine mammal facility in the world. The position as world's
oceanarium has since shifted repeatedly in recent years. From 2005 to 2012 it was the Georgia
Aquarium in the United States with an initial total water volume of 32,000 m3 (8,500,000 US gal),
later it expanded to 38,000 m3 (10,000,000 US gal), and home to 100–120,000 animals of 700
species. In 2012 it was surpassed by Marine Life Park in Singapore with a total water volume of
45,000 m3 (12,000,000 US gal) and over 100,000 animals of more than 800 species.[1] In 2014, the
Singapore park was surpassed by the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China, the current record
holder, with a total water volume of 48,750 m3(12,880,000 US gal).[2]

Marine public aquariums[edit]

The largest tank of the Afrykariumin Wrocław shows the depths of the Mozambique Channel, where sharks,
rays, and other large pelagic fish can be viewed from this 18 meter long underwater acrylic tunnel.

Modern marine aquariums try to create natural environments. A host of marine animals swim
together in the four-story cylindrical tank of the New England Aquarium in Boston, which opened in
1969. At the National Aquarium in Baltimore, which opened in 1981, a walkway spirals up through
the center of two gigantic cylindrical tanks, the Atlantic Coral Reef and the Shark Alley, which display
sharks, sawfish, and other sea creatures. Since then, many new aquariums have sought even
greater realism, often concentrating on local environments. The richly endowed Monterey Bay
Aquarium in California, which opened in 1984, is an outstanding example.[3]
The Afrykarium is the only themed oceanarium devoted solely to exhibiting the fauna of Africa and
located in Wrocław, Poland. A part of the Wrocław Zoo, the idea behind the Afrykarium is to
comprehensively present selected ecosystems from the continent of Africa. Housing over 10
thousand animals, its breadth extends from housing insects such cockroaches to the large mammals
like the elephants on an area of over 33 hectares [4].
Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan is home to the only Oceanarium in Central Asia.

See also[edit]
 Manila Ocean Park
 Moscow Oceanarium
 Nordsøen Oceanarium, Hirtshals, Denmark.
 Dolphinarium
 Public aquarium
 UnderWater World Guam

Notes[edit]
1. ^ "World's largest oceanarium opens". CNNGo Staff. CNN. 2012-11-22.
2. ^ "China's Hengqin Ocean Kingdom confirmed as world's largest aquarium as attraction sets five
world records". Guinness World Records. 31 March 2014. Retrieved 9 November 2017.
3. ^ Taylor, Leighton R., Aquariums: Windows to Nature, Prentice Hall General Reference, New York,
1993. ISBN 0-671-85019-9
4. ^ Isler, Danuta. "A trip to Wroclaw Afrykarium". Radio Poland. Radio Poland.

Further reading[edit]
 Lou Jacobs, Wonders of an oceanarium: The story of marine life in captivity. Golden Gate Junior
Books, 1965.
 Joanne F. Oppenheim, Oceanarium. BBooks, 1994. ISBN 0-553-09520-X.
 Patryla, Jim. (2005). A Photographic Journey Back To Marineland of the Pacific. Lulu
Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4116-7130-0.
 Brunner, Bernd. The Ocean at Home: An Illustrated History of the Aquarium. Reaktion Books,
2011.

External links[edit]
 Oceanarium — The Bournemouth Aquarium, UK
 Oceanarium, West Australia — suppliers of marine aquarium specimens
 Marine Life Park - Resorts World @ Sentosa