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Research and Educational Centre «Primorsky
Aquarium» of Far Eastern Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences
The Primorsky Aquarium of
the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences is being built
at the request of the President of the Russian Federation.
There will be an exhibit
building with a Dolphinarium in the aquarium. There will be a research
center located nearby.
The exhibit building,
which is designed in the shape of a shell, will be a masterpiece of
architecture and design. It is designed for exhibits and visitors, as
well as research laboratories. Even now the building amazes with its
size. It is 150 meters wide, and overall size is about 35,000 square
meters.
The total volume of water
in the Primorsky aquarium will be about 25,000 tons. For reference, the
largest aquarium in the world that is located in a single building, like
ours, has total volume of water of about 30 000 tons (Atlanta, USA).
There are even larger aquariums, for example, the aquarium in Valencia,
Spain, which has 42,000 tons of water, but its tanks are located in
several buildings.
The volume of the tanks
in the exhibit building is more than 10,000 cubic meters. The two
biggest tanks will hold about 7,000 tons, which is equal to the volume
of 120 railroad tank cars. The thickness of the acrylic window in the
biggest tank will be nearly 0.6 meters. Visitors will be able to observe
life of the marine inhabitants through the glass of the underwater
tunnel which is 2.5 meters wide, 70 meters long, and is equipped with a
moving path.
The underwater worlds of
the all five oceans will be represented in the Primorsky Aquarium. There
will be around 800 species of marine and fresh water inhabitants,
including invertebrates, fish, birds and marine mammals, displayed in
thematic exhibits. The complex of different sized tanks will allow
visitors to see life of the inhabitants of Russian water zones such as
the Sea of Japan, the Sea of Okhotsk, the Bering Sea, Lake Baikal, the
Amur River and Lake Khanka; as well as the inhabitants of polar cold
seas, warm tropic seas and rivers and open ocean territories.
The life support and
water adjustment systems will take significant space in the building.
Up-to date technologies will allow nearly 30 different water parameters
to be controlled, which is necessary for the well being of marine
animals. There will be a group of additional units for maintaining the
live exhibits, such as technical and hydrochemical units, a veterinary
unit, health and disease control, water conditioning, kitchen and other
units in the exhibits area; there will also be a diving department for
tank cleaning and providing technical support during the scientific
experiments in the main tank and other large ones.
The dolphinarium will also be
located in the exhibit building. The water volume in the dolphinarium
pools will be more than 10,000 cubic meters. Shows of bottle nosed
dolphins, beluga whales, pilot whales, sea lions and fur seals can be
watched by 800 viewers at the same time. The central pool for the
dolphinarium shows has a space of 800 square meters and a depth about 10
meters. The zones of above and under water observation will allow for
maximum enjoyment of the shows. The pool system will create perfect
conditions for husbandry and training of marine mammals. The conditions
for feeding, examination and transportation of marine mammals will also
be provided, as well as a separate veterinary lab for the marine
mammals.
There will be a dolphin
therapy department in the Dolphinarium, for which a separate pool is
being built. Highly qualified experts will work in the dolphin therapy
department after receiving special training.
In the research center,
all scientific studies will be conducted, new exhibits will be composed
and new inhabitants will spend quarantine time. The space of the
research center is about 7,000 square meters. There will be more than
400 pools and aquariums in it, as well as a large freezer for keeping
food.
The Primorsky
Aquarium is a part of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of
Sciences as a research institute. However, unlike most institutions of
the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Primorsky Aquarium will cover not
only scientific tasks, but also educational and cultural ones. This is
the first such facility, not only in the Russian Academy of Sciences,
but in all of Russia as well. The Primorsky aquarium will have
environmental educational programs, conduct the task of aesthetic
education, help to form a new ideology of people’s attitude toward
nature, take part in the preservation of rare and endangered species of
marine and fresh water inhabitants and of course, demonstrate live
exhibits for tourists.
The Presidium of the
Russian Academy of Sciences has defined the main areas of scientific
researches of the aquarium. The main areas of the educational programs
are also defined.
The «Primorsky Aquarium»
will employ a staff of 360 people, including the following specialists:
biologists, veterinarians, trainers, educators, guides, engineers and
technical staff, show managers, sound engineers, lighting technician
etc.
Source: official web of
Primorskiy
Oceanarium (2012)
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