National Aquarium of New Zealand | |
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39°30′03″S176°55′08″E / 39.5007°S 176.9189°E | |
Date opened | 1976 |
Location | Napier, New Zealand |
No. of animals | 1500+ |
No. of species | 50+ |
Volume of largest tank | 1.5 million litres |
Major exhibits | Oceanarium, fish, reptiles, kiwi, penguins |
Owner | Napier City Council |
Website | www |
The National Aquarium of New Zealand, formerly Napier Aquarium, is a public aquarium on Marine Parade in Napier, New Zealand. It was started in 1957 and moved to its present location in 1976. It is owned by Napier City Council. In addition to many fish species, exhibits include kiwi, tuatara, turtles, little penguins and some lizards.
In 1957, members of Napier's Thirty Thousand Club and the Hawke's Bay Aquarium and Water Garden Society decided to create a public aquarium with tropical fish and unusual specimens of local fish in the basement of the War Memorial Hall that was being built on Marine Parade. [1]
The aquarium moved to its current location on Marine Parade in 1976. [2] In its first year of its life it attracted 230,000 visitors at a time when the population of Napier was about 50,000. In its first 5 years of operation over 750,000 people visited.
The aquarium acquired piranhas from Cleveland, Ohio, U.S., in 1979, trading seahorses for them. [3] In 2019 the 21 elderly piranhas remaining were euthanased, as new government rules no longer allowed them to be kept in the aquarium's tanks. [4]
In 2002 the aquarium underwent a NZ$8 million extension and renovation which included the addition of a 1.5 million litre oceanarium with a 50m acrylic tunnel and the replacement of all the original tanks with newly constructed ones. It was renamed the National Aquarium of New Zealand. [2]
In 2010 the aquarium's crocodile named Izzy died after being at the aquarium for 20 years. [5] In 2011 Butterfly Creek in Auckland loaned an American alligator named Cheryl to the zoo; the alligator was sent back to Butterfly Creek in 2020. [6]
In 2016 an octopus named Inky escaped from his enclosure at the aquarium and was never found again. The escape received worldwide media attention. [7]
Since 2017, aquarium staff have voted for the best behaved and naughtiest Penguin of the Month from the resident colony of little penguins, which has proved very popular on social media. [8]
After the deaths of three of the sharks due to the "impacts of Cyclone Gabrielle", as well as the injuries of the noses of other sharks, the aquarium released their two remaining sharks in 2023. The aquarium did not plan on getting any new sharks. [9]
There are two temporary exhibit halls (one on the upper level and the other adjacent to the oceanarium), a souvenir shop and cafe.
Exhibits include:
Hawke's Bay is a region on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island. The region is named for Hawke Bay, which was named in honour of Edward Hawke. The region's main centres are the cities of Napier and Hastings, while the more rural parts of the region are served by the towns of Waipukurau, Waipawa, and Wairoa.
Napier is a city on the eastern coast of the North Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Hawke's Bay region. It is a beachside city with a seaport, known for its sunny climate, esplanade lined with Norfolk pines, and extensive Art Deco architecture. For these attributes, Napier is sometimes romantically referred to as the "Nice of the Pacific".
The 1931 Hawke's Bay earthquake, also known as the Napier earthquake, occurred in New Zealand at 10:47 am on 3 February, killing 256, injuring thousands and devastating the Hawke's Bay region. It remains New Zealand's deadliest natural disaster. Centred 15 km north of Napier, it lasted for two and a half minutes and had a magnitude of 7.8 Ms. There were 525 aftershocks recorded in the following two weeks, with 597 being recorded by the end of February. The main shock could be felt in much of New Zealand, with reliable reports coming in from as far south as Timaru, on the east coast of the South Island.
Hastings is an inland city of New Zealand and is one of the two major urban areas in Hawke's Bay, on the east coast of the North Island. The population of Hastings is 52,200, with a further 14,900 people in Havelock North and 2,120 in Clive. Hastings is about 18 kilometres inland of the coastal city of Napier. These two neighbouring cities are often called "The Bay Cities" or "The Twin Cities".
Waipukurau is the largest town in the Central Hawke's Bay District on the east coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is located on the banks of the Tukituki River, 7 kilometres south of Waipawa and 50 kilometres southwest of Hastings.
Shedd Aquarium is an indoor public aquarium in Chicago. Opened on May 30, 1930, the 5 million US gal aquarium holds about 32,000 animals and is the third largest aquarium in the Western Hemisphere, after the Georgia Aquarium and Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Wairoa is the largest town in the Wairoa District and the northernmost town in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand's North Island. It is located on the northern shore of Hawke Bay at the mouth of the Wairoa River and to the west of Māhia Peninsula. It is 118 kilometres (73 mi) northeast of Napier, and 92 kilometres (57 mi) southwest of Gisborne, on State Highway 2. It is the nearest town to the Te Urewera protected area and former national park, which is accessible from Wairoa via State Highway 38. It is one of three towns in New Zealand where Māori outnumber other ethnicities, with 62.29% of the population identifying as Māori.
The National Aquarium, Washington, D.C., was an aquarium in Washington D.C. It was located in the Herbert C. Hoover Building, which is bounded by 14th Street NW on the east, 15th Street NW on the west, Pennsylvania Avenue NW on the north, and Constitution Avenue NW on the south. It was the first free and public aquarium in the United States.
The Lisbon Oceanarium is an oceanarium in Lisbon, Portugal. It is located in the Parque das Nações, which was the exhibition grounds for the Expo '98. It is one of the largest indoor aquariums in Europe and approximately 1 million people visit each year.
Sea Life Sunshine Coast at Mooloolaba, Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia is a marine mammal park, oceanarium and wildlife sanctuary. Sea Life Sunshine Coast is an institutional member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA). The attraction is a Sea Life Centre owned by Merlin Entertainments, and is globally referred to as Sea Life Sunshine Coast by the firm. It was formerly known as UnderWater World.
Sea Life at Mall of America is a public aquarium located in the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, United States. The 1.3 million-US-gallon aquarium contains thousands of aquatic creatures, including sea turtles, sharks, sawfish, stingrays, jellyfish and seahorses. There are eleven exhibits featured at the aquarium. The aquarium is highlighted by a 300-foot (91 m) 360° clear acrylic tunnel, which consists of four different areas housing both freshwater and salt water creatures.
The Napier-Hastings Urban Area was defined by Statistics New Zealand as a main urban area of New Zealand that was based around the twin cities of Napier and Hastings in the Hawke's Bay Region. It was defined under the New Zealand Standard Areas Classification 1992 (NZSAC92), which has since been superseded by the Statistical Standard for Geographic Areas 2018 (SSGA18).
Kelly Tarlton's Sea Life Aquarium is a public aquarium opened in 1985 in Auckland, New Zealand. Located at 23 Tamaki Drive, it was the brainchild of New Zealand marine archaeologist and diver Kelly Tarlton (1937–1985).
Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium is a Southern Ocean and Antarctic aquarium in central Melbourne, Australia. It is located on the banks of the Yarra River beside and under the Flinders Street Viaduct and the King Street Bridge. The attraction is a Sea Life Centre owned by Merlin Entertainments.
SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium is a public aquarium in Sydney, Australia. Opened in 1988, it features a large variety of Australian aquatic life, displaying more than 700 species comprising more than 13,000 individual fish and other sea and water creatures from most of Australia's water habitats.
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Long Island Aquarium is an aquarium that opened in 2000 on Long Island in Riverhead, New York, United States.
Thomas Alfred Cotterill was a New Zealand rugby league player who represented New Zealand in 1911, touring Australia. His one and only match for New Zealand was against Queensland on July 1 where he came on as an injury replacement for Ernie Asher. New Zealand won the match 24–13 in front of 7,000 spectators at the Brisbane Cricket Ground.
Rugby League Hawkes Bay is the local sporting body responsible for the administration of rugby league in the Hawke's Bay region of New Zealand. The RLHB run the local club competition and are responsible for the Hawke's Bay rugby league team. They are part of the New Zealand Rugby League's Mid-Central Zone and their players are eligible for the Central Vipers.
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