One Year of the New Seville Aquarium
One year after the reopening of the Seville Aquarium, the center has established itself as a tourist and educational reference in the city. The renovation of the facilities and the new jellyfish exhibition have been the beginning of a complete transformation of the aquarium that allows visitors to enjoy the best educational and leisure experience.
In this article, we review all the new features that we can find in the Seville Aquarium one year later:
NEW FACILITIES AND SPECIES
The great concern of the aquarium is to raise awareness about the marine environment, to show the beauty of the seabed, the great diversity of colors, organisms, and ecosystems that exist, to ensure that each person who visits us discovers something new about nature, and for this reason, the center is in continuous change. A remodeled jungle, three new tanks, and new species are some of these new features:
New jungle: The aquarium’s jungle continues to grow with improvements in the theming of the tanks to more faithfully recreate the natural habitat and with the addition of two small crocodiles to the zoological collection that already inhabited this space (anacondas, mata-mata turtles, poison dart frogs, basilisks, iguanas, etc.)
New octopus tank: The aquarium has new inhabitants and they are one of the children’s favorite animals, octopuses. For a few weeks now, five specimens of this mollusk have been showing visitors why they are considered the most intelligent animal among marine invertebrates.
New “aquatic beauty” tank: At the end of the tour, you can find a whole new installation, a new tank that recreates an aquatic garden with natural plants. It represents the living nature of a complete river ecosystem, in such a way that 95% of the plants we can find, both in the water and in the upper area, are living vegetation (orchids, aquatic plants, etc.) and the fish that accompany them have great coloration despite being freshwater (more common among tropical fish).
New jellyfish species: The new jellyfish exhibit that opened last year has continued to grow with new species on display (Cotylorhiza tuberculata – known as the fried egg jellyfish – and Rhopilema esculentum – called the flame jellyfish) and with the birth of hundreds of new individuals that can be seen both in the tanks and in the open reproduction laboratory (through a window) to the public.
MORE MAGELLAN/ELCANO
The Seville Aquarium carries in its DNA the first circumnavigation of the Earth since the entire exhibition route of the enclosure follows the same path as this historic feat. But this theme has been reinforced in the last year with changes in both the route and activities.
New information points, as well as signage and audiovisual resources, allow visitors to contextualize their visit in the different stages of the first circumnavigation of the Earth, showing them everything that Magellan and Elcano did not see, the bottom of the deep sea.
In addition, visitors can complete their visit with different activities on weekends, such as the “Island in Sight” workshop or the “Magellan’s Journey Adventure” booklet, which allow them to learn more about this great journey or discover all the secrets of the Spice Islands.
In the case of the offer for educational centers, the Aquarium’s Education Department has designed a complete program of Magellanic experiences for schoolchildren. Throughout the aquarium tour, students from educational centers of all levels will not only be able to follow the history of this great adventure in search of the Spice Islands, but they will also get to know all the ecosystems through which they sailed for more than three years.
MORE OUTREACH AND AWARENESS ACTIONS
The dissemination of marine life and education are two of the most important tasks of the Sevillian center, which during the last year has collaborated with national and international associations and has participated in awareness programs on sea pollution and marine litter. Several turtle releases (after recovery periods in the aquarium), beach clean-ups (such as Rota or La Antilla), cleaning of protected areas like Doñana (within the Libera Project) and even the Guadalquivir River (to celebrate World Water Day) have been some of the actions that have allowed the aquarium to bring a message of awareness to Andalusians.
The Seville Aquarium has also received this year the visit of the world’s first charitable organization dedicated to the fight against plastics “Plastic Ocean UK”, in which different lines of collaboration were outlined in the fight against marine pollution; as well as the opportunity to participate (and host in its facilities) in the Marlice Forum, organized by the Spanish Association of Marine Litter (Aebam), which brought together more than 200 experts with the aim of joining forces against the pollution of seas and oceans.
On the more scientific side, the aquarium has also been present at the Science Fair and Science Week, as well as in different forums of various sectors (e.g. 100Cia Space of the Descubre Foundation).
SOME RECOGNITIONS
Last summer, the Seville Aquarium launched a new sustainability strategy that has allowed it to be the first aquarium in the world to have certified its carbon footprint, as well as the life cycle analysis of the activity and its water footprint. This certification (the Triple A) represents a great milestone in its history because it reaffirms its commitment to the environment, in addition to allowing the development of a sustainable activity that can be maintained over time.
Additionally, the Seville Aquarium has joined as a member of the Iberian Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AIZA), a very important step because it accredits the conservation and educational work carried out in this center, recognizing the important role that the aquarium plays in maintaining biodiversity.
All these changes have been reflected in the opinions of its visitors, who have recently helped the Sevillian center obtain the TripAdvisor Certificate of Excellence. A recognition with which the travel portal highlights the great quality of its facilities and positions it as one of the best things to do in Seville.