San Sebastián Aquarium: twenty thousand leagues of underwater exploration
San Sebastián Aquarium: twenty thousand leagues of underwater exploration
“The sea is the vast reservoir of Nature. The globe began with sea, so to speak; and who knows if it will not end with it?” This quote from Jules Verne describes well the immensity and richness of fauna and flora that is hidden beneath the surface of the sea. The author of “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea” made millions of readers dream about the secrets of the depths of the ocean and also promoted interest in scientific research into species hidden therein. Following this trend, the Guipúzcoa Oceanography Society –currently called the Gipuzkoa Oceanographic Foundation– was created in 1908 in the Basque Country. This society was a pioneer in the dissemination of meteorological, fishing, oceanographic, and fish stocking knowledge, as well as in the creation of the first fishing school in Spain and of a Master in Marine Biology undertaken in cooperation with various European universities.
In 1928, the Guipúzcoa Oceanography Society founded the San Sebastián Aquarium, which was located at the city’s old port. In 1998 the building was expanded, and the complex currently consists of a museum, 31 aquariums, exhibition halls, an auditorium, a shop, a cafeteria, and a restaurant – being one of the most important tourist resources in the Basque Country.
The Aquarium’s museum section helps to contextualize the maritime history of Gipuzkoa: whalers, fishing, the seafaring trade, etc. The aquariums, meanwhile, are dedicated to the Cantabrian Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and tropical fauna. Among them, the Oceanarium stands out: a large tank that holds 1,500,000 liters of water and features a 360º glass tunnel through which visitors can walk to observe the diversity of the fauna of the Atlantic Ocean, with two bull sharks as protagonists. The more intrepid also have the chance to don a diving suit, dive into the Ocenarium, and swim among its 7,000 fish –including the two sharks– just like the characters of Verne’s novel. It is no wonder that the Aquarium welcomes more than 300,000 visitors annually. Even Captain Nemo would have liked to be able to immerse himself in the secrets of the great blue in this way.
Aquarium
Plaza de Carlos Blasco Imaz 1, San Sebastián.
Tel.: +34 943 440 099
