(JP)New addition to Nagoya aquarium opens

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New addition to Nagoya aquarium opens

 

NAGOYA (Kyodo) The latest section of the Port of

Nagoya Public Aquarium opened to the public last week

in Minato Ward here.

 

The new addition to the facility cost around 18.6

billion yen and is large enough to house a tank

containing six bottlenose dolphins and six beluga

whales. The tank has a window some 29 meters long and

4 meters high, they said.

 

The four-story building has floor space of around

21,000 sq. meters. The circular tank is Japan's

largest at around 60 meters wide and 30 meters high

and is also one of the world's largest. The

prefectural government shouldered part of the

construction cost.

 

A killer whale was to be the main attraction of the

new wing, but the aquarium has not yet been able to

procure one.

 

" It's too bad the killer whale was not able to make it

in time, " said Itaru Uchida, head of the aquatic park.

Aquarium officials have launched efforts to either

borrow a killer whale from an aquarium or park

overseas or capture one, he added.

 

A local group said it opposes the raising of a killer

whale in the park because it would shorten the

mammal's life. The activists said they have collected

some 4,000 signatures supporting their cause and plan

further efforts to rally the public against the plan.

 

 

Manatee born Oct. 13

NAHA, Okinawa Pref. (Kyodo) A female manatee calf was

born at the Okinawa Expo Aquarium in the town of

Motobu, Okinawa Prefecture, on Oct. 13, aquarium

officials said last week.

The 1.15-meter, 28-kg calf has been swimming with its

mother in a tank.

 

The aquarium said it plans to show the West Indian

manatee calf to the public and invite suggestions for

a name after its health and that of its mother

stabilize.

 

Tasuku Nagasaki, deputy chief of the aquarium's

breeding section, said human feeding of the calf may

not be necessary because it is suckling satisfactorily

and is expected to grow well.

 

Three other aquariums in Japan have manatees, but the

Okinawa facility is the only one that has been

successful in breeding one. There have been four

manatees born there since its opening in 1974.

 

The manatee, a large marine mammal similar to the

dugong, is on the verge of extinction and is

designated as an endangered species under the

Convention on International Trade in Endangered

Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

 

Manatees have cigar-shaped bodies and square snouts.

They range in length from 3 to 4 meters and weigh 450

to 900 kg. Their average life span is 60 to 70 years.

 

Like dugongs, sightings of manatees are believed to

have given rise to the myth of mermaids and sirens.

 

The Japan Times: Nov. 6, 2001

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