Aquarium stories

Public aquariums display live aquatic animal and plant specimens for public viewing. Since the first public aquariums were established in the middle of the 19th century, their popularity and number have grown.

London Zoo opened the very first public aquarium in May 1853. Known as the Fish House, this resembled a greenhouse in construction. Across the pond, P.T. Barnum opened the first one in the USA three years later. This was part of Barnum’s American Museum in New York City. Other early examples include the Aquarial Gardens in Boston, 1859, and the Jardin d’Acclimatation in Paris, France and the Viennese Aquarium Salon, in Austria, both 1860. There was also Marine Aquarium Temple at the Zoological Garden of Hamburg, Germany, which opened in 1864, and Brighton Aquarium in the UK, which opened in 1872.

The world’s biggest public aquarium is at the Chimelong Ocean Kingdom theme park in Hengqin, China. This holds 48.75 million litres. Close behind it is Marine Life Park in Singapore, which has 45 million litres of water. The attraction is home to over 100,000 marine animals of over 800 species. In the US, the biggest is Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. This underwent an expansion project in 2020, which allowed guests to get up close and personal with sharks. One of its aims was to challenge some of the common misconceptions about these creatures.

As with their zoo counterparts, the focus has moved from the early entertainment model. Most modern accredited facilities now place an emphasis on public education and conservation issues.