PUBLIC AQUARIA

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 189, 7 May 1937, Page 13

PUBLIC AQUARIA

Establishment in Various Parts of World WELLINGTON PROPOSAL The suggestion was recently made that Wellington should have an aquarium. The establishment of public aquaria is also engaging the attention of other parts of the world, and one is shortly to be built in Cape Town at a cost of £25,000. This aquarium, •which is to have 46 tanks of sea and fresh water, and tropical fish, wil’ lie the finest in the Souther.. Hemisphere. In an article iu the “Cape Times,” Mr. R. A. Rockland deals with the history of aquaria elsewhere. “The establishment of public aquaria is a relatively new idea,” says Mr. Rockland. “The first aquarium was erected in 1871 at Blackpool, the next in 1872 at Brighton, which nowadays has the largest capacity of tanks: 650.000 gallons. “There are two more aquaria in England, at London and Plymouth. The London Aquarium, controlled by the Zoological Society, is beneath the Bear Terraces in the Zoo. It is modernly equipped and shelters in about 00 tanks. 3600 exhibits: the average number of daily visitors is more than 2000. ’ “About 50 aquaria are spread over the world, of which 22 are in Europe. England has four, Germany eight, France two, and Belgium, Holland, Sweden, Italy, Hungary, Portugal. Spain, and Monaco one each. The cost o fbuilding these 22 'difices, which differ in the number of built-in water tanks from 12 to 100, is about £1,000,000. United States Leads. “But the United States leads. Since 1930 the Chicago people have been the proud possessors .of the largest aquarium of the world —given to the city by Mr. Shedd, who made a gift of £1.000,000. In 132 water basins (the largest of which have a length of 30 feet, a breadth of 10 feet and a water-height of six feet) about 10.000 exhibits, comprising more than 1500 varieties are on view. “The larger aquaria attract the attention of the people more than do zoological gardens. The number of visitors who annually go to this ideally equipped establishment amount to 4,750,000. “In the United States ten other considerable aquaria with 550 basins attract an average of 800,000 people a year. “There are smaller aquaria in South America, India, Australia and Africa. Aquaria often have been built inside the grounds of zoological gardens, and are combined with terraria and snake parks. Best Attempt in Berlin, “One of the best attempts to gather the entire fauna, as far as suitable for that purpose, in one big area, succeeded iu Berlin. There, the Zoological Garden occupies an area of about 30 acres in the western part of the Tiergarten, the central park of Berlin. The western side of the zoo borders upon theatreland and Kurfuerstendamm, the main thoroughfare of Berlin-West. “The aquarium was built in 1913 at a cost of 1,000.000 marks. It is an ornamental building with three stories, a roof-garden, a frontage of 175 feet and a covered area of 20,125 square feet. “The visitors walk into big dark rooms and look at the 75 lighted tanks, in which 700 varieties of marine animals are shown; in about 100 dry tanks are exhibiting snakes, tortoises and creepers. The hall in the centre, 90 by 33 feet in size, forms a half-dry jungle-river with a bamboo-bridge, from which visitors see crocodiles and alligators. The third floor and the roof-garden *Mjow a fine collection of

living insects. “Most of the visitors are so attracted by all this splendour that they come back again, notwithstanding the. admission charges of some two shillings. “Now, what about Africa? East London has made a brave attempt, and Durban, too, is starting an aquarium. But are these really acceptable as a sample of what South Africa can do? “The marine and submarine animal

life of South African waters is said to be of such abundance thak the erection of an up-to-date aquarium should no longer be delayed. “Moreover, the possibilities for setting up a high-standard aquarium ou the Cape Town beach ,are positively good. If things are done well the income derived from admission fees is sure to exceed the running expenditure and further bring additional indirect revenue to Cape Town.” The article is accompanied by an illustration of a sick child looking into a glass tank containing tish. and underneath there is the following caption : “It has been, discovered that fish swimming in tanks and bowls have a

beneficial effect on the nerves of people suffering from various ailments. Dentists and doctors have found that children find great relief from shaken nerves when they are able to watch fish swimming in a bowl.”