An oceanarium can be either a marine mammal park, such as Marineland of Canada, or a large-scale aquarium, such as the Lisbon Oceanarium, presenting an ocean habitat with marine animals, especially large ocean dwellers such as sharks.
An oceanarium can be either a marine mammal park, such as Marineland of Canada, or a large-scale aquarium, such as the Lisbon Oceanarium, presenting an ocean habitat with marine animals, especially large ocean dwellers such as sharks.
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 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 SeaWorld Ohio to Six Flags, which combined the park with the neighboring Geauga Lake to form Six Flags Worlds of Adventure. The animal aquatics portion of the park closed prior to 2004 when Six Flags sold the park to Cedar Fair.
When a new 170,000-square-foot exhibit 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 largest 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]
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. Monterey Bay Aquarium in California, which opened in 1984, is an example[ according to whom? ]. [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. [4]
Nur-Sultan, the capital of Kazakhstan, is home to the only oceanarium in Central Asia.
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SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment. The parks feature orcas, sea lion, and dolphin shows and zoological displays featuring various other marine animals. There are operations located within the United States in Orlando, Florida; San Diego, California; San Antonio, Texas; later outside the United States such as Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and previously Aurora, Ohio. On March 5, 2007, SeaWorld Orlando announced addition of the Aquatica water park to its adventure park, which already includes SeaWorld and Discovery Cove.
Shedd Aquarium is an indoor public aquarium in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States. Opened on May 30, 1930, the 5 million US gal aquarium was for some time the largest indoor facility in the world. Today it holds about 32,000 animals.
Georgia Aquarium is a public aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It exhibits hundreds of species and thousands of animals across its seven major galleries, all of which reside in more than 11 million US gallons (42,000 m3) of water. It was the largest aquarium in the world from its opening in 2005 until 2012 when it was surpassed by the S.E.A. Aquarium in Singapore and the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom in China; the Georgia Aquarium remains the largest aquarium in the United States and the third largest in the world.
Marineland of the Pacific was a public oceanarium and tourist attraction located on the Palos Verdes Peninsula coast in Los Angeles County, California, USA. Architect William Pereira designed the main structure. It was also known as Hanna-Barbera's Marineland during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Marineland operated from 1954 until 1987, when it was purchased by the owners of SeaWorld San Diego. The new owners moved the popular killer whales and other animals to their San Diego facility and abruptly closed Marineland.
Marineland of Florida, one of Florida's first marine mammal parks, is billed as "the world's first oceanarium". Marineland functions as an entertainment and swim-with-the-dolphins facility, and reopened to the public on March 4, 2006. In 2011, the park was purchased by the Georgia Aquarium for a reported $9.1 million.
The Vancouver Aquarium is a public aquarium located in Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In addition to being a major tourist attraction for Vancouver, the aquarium is a centre for marine research, ocean literacy education, conservation and marine animal rehabilitation.
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 the largest indoor aquarium in Europe.
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.
Underwater World, also known as Underwater World Singapore Pte Ltd, was a former oceanarium located on the offshore Singaporean island of Sentosa.
SeaWorld San Antonio is a 250-acre (100 ha) marine mammal park, oceanarium and animal theme park in the Westover Hills District of San Antonio, Texas, on the city's west side. It is the largest of the three parks in the SeaWorld chain owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment and one of the world's largest marine-life theme parks focused on conservation, education and animal rescue. It is a member of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums (AMMPA) and is accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA).
SeaWorld San Diego is an animal theme park, oceanarium, outside aquarium and marine mammal park, in San Diego, California, United States, inside Mission Bay Park. It is owned and operated by SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment.
A marine mammal park is a commercial theme park or aquarium where marine mammals such as dolphins, beluga whales and sea lions are kept within water tanks and displayed to the public in special shows. A marine mammal park is more elaborate than a dolphinarium, because it also features other marine mammals and offers additional entertainment attractions. It is thus seen as a combination of a public aquarium and an amusement park. Marine mammal parks are different from marine parks, which include natural reserves and marine wildlife sanctuaries such as coral reefs, particularly in Australia.
SEA LIFE Sydney Aquarium is a public aquarium that 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. Opened in 1988, it is regarded as one of Sydney's premier tourist attractions with over 55% of its visitors each year coming from overseas.
A public aquarium is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and plant specimens for public viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept by home aquarists, as well as smaller tanks. Since the first public aquariums were built in the mid-19th century, they have become popular and their numbers have increased. Most modern accredited aquariums stress conservation issues and educating the public.
SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment is an American theme park and entertainment company headquartered in Orlando, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of SeaWorld Entertainment Inc. and owns and operates thirteen recreational destinations in the United States, including eight theme parks and five water parks. Notable brands within its portfolio include SeaWorld and Busch Gardens. In May 2018, Themed Entertainment Association and the global management firm AECOM reported that SeaWorld Parks & Entertainment ranked ninth in the world for attendance among theme park companies, led by parks SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
An animal theme park, also known as a zoological theme park, is a combination of an amusement park and a zoo, mainly for entertainment, amusement, and commercial purposes. Many animal theme parks combine classic theme park elements, such as themed entertainment and amusement rides, with classic zoo elements such as live animals confined within enclosures for display. Many times, live animals are utilized and featured as part of amusement rides and attractions found at animal theme parks.
The Marine Life Park is a part of Resorts World Sentosa, Sentosa, situated in southern Singapore. The 8-hectare (20-acre) park houses two attractions, the S.E.A. Aquarium and the Adventure Cove Waterpark, and featured the largest oceanarium in the world from 2012 to 2014, until it was surpassed by Chimelong Ocean Kingdom.
Ocean Park Aquarium is a privately owned open-to-public oceanarium located approximately 10 km south of Denham in the Shark Bay area of Western Australia that is a major tourism drawcard in the area. Visitors can experience marine creatures on display such as coralfish, butterflyfish, clownfish, lionfish, stonefish, moray eel, stingrays, sea snakes, octopus and crustaceans in the indoor aquarium centre. The oceanarium's flagship display is the 3.5 ML (920,000 US gal) "Shark Lagoon" where kingfish, trevally and estuary cod cohabitate with sandbar shark, sicklefin lemon sharks and tiger shark which are publicly fed six times daily. The lagoon is the largest such exhibit in Western Australia. Diving experiences, shark feedings and other tours are also available to visitors for additional costs. The oceanarium prides itself on being eco-friendly and has won several tourism and education awards. The aquarium offers some degree of protection to key species particularly to loggerhead turtles that often undergo rehabilitation following injury or exhaustion after being carried too far south.
