A Global Life: Aquamarine Fukushima

Thursday, September 30, 2010

Aquamarine Fukushima

One of Iwaki’s best tourist spots, the Aquamarine Fukushima is a great place to visit . It is a new age sea museum and is a good way to discover the mysteries of the Ocean life. The Aquamarine Fukushima has been built at a place where the Cold Black Current ( Kuroshio) from the north meets the Warm Kurile Current (Oyashio) meet . This place is called the Shiome Sea.

The entire building is a glass structure and there are various attractions are spread across 4 levels of this aquarium.

On the first floor the first exhibit that we saw was the “ Evolution of Life in the Seas”. After viewing the exhibits on the first floor ,we took the escalator up to the 4^th floor. We reached the exhibit “Along the shores of Fukushima”. This is an an open air walking trail along which there are glass tanks with the local sea creatures.

Walking down this trail we reached the third floor where we reached the Northern Pacific Sea creatures exhibit. The Sea Lion and the Walruses swimming in the high tanks are entertaining and it is no wonder that this exhibit is loved by kids . When we visited most kids were trying to imitate the loud sounds of these creatures and each time the walrus and the sea lion dived into the water, they would clap and jump with excitement. Then we reached the Oceanic Galleria which has displays about the environmental issues and conservation of marine life etc. There is an activity area for kids where kids can enjoy drawing and colouring various sea life pictures. As you walk along to go down to the second floor you see the “Waters of Tropical Asia “ exhibit. A tropical climate and surroundings have been created here . Finally we reached the second floor and the first exhibit we saw was the “Seas of Coral Reef” . After seeing lots of coral reefs and colourful fish , we walked to the display “The Okhotsk Sea” and after this we moved to the main attraction of the Aquamarine Fukushima.- “ Oceans at the Current Rip” . This is a triangular shaped walk through glass tunnel where the creatures living at the meeting place of both currents can be seen. This I heard is the world’s first triangular tunnel. After this we viewed the exhibits “ The Oceans of Fukushima” and finally reached the touching pool. Not to be mentioned this is a favourite spot with kids and we saw many adults all excited about touching the live sea creatures. From here we went to the Iro Iro Aquarium where there is a nice blend of a play area with the aquarium.

We then ventured outdoors to the Kappa Village. Here the countryside waterside environment has been recreated and you can find water insects and frogs a plenty. Walking along the water, we reached the Janome Beach. Not a big beach, it is a small shallow beach where kids were playing in the water and further down we saw some live starfish too. We saw one kid holding 7 or 8 starfish and he posed for some pics too.