Tokyo Sea Life Park

Tokyo Sea Life Park
Date opened	1989-10-10
Location	Kasai Rinkai Park, Tokyo
Land area	15,799m²[1]
No. of animals	85,000[1]
No. of species	940[1]
Volume of largest tank	2,200,000 litres (581,000 US gal)[1]
Total volume of tanks	4,600,000 litres (1,215,000 US gal)[1]
Annual visitors	2 Million
Memberships	JAZA
Major exhibits	Pacific bluefin tuna , Giant Kelp etc.
Management	TOKYO ZOOLOGICAL PARK SOCIETY[1]
Public transit access	Kasai-Rinkai Park Station
Website	www.tokyo-zoo.net/english/kasai/index.html

Tokyo Sea Life Park (葛西臨海水族園, kasai-rinkai-suizoku-en) is a public aquarium located in Kasai Rinkai Park in Edogawa Ward, Tokyo. Its predecessor was the Ueno Aquarium, which was set up in Ueno Zoo. The building was designed by Yoshio Taniguchi.^[1] The aquarium is accredited as a Museum-equivalent facilities by the Museum Act from Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.^[2]

The park can be accessed from Kasai-Rinkai Park Station.

History

Tokyo Sea Life Park has its origins in "Uonozoki", the first public aquarium in Japan that was opened in 1882.^[1] It was a public aquarium that existed only during the exposition and was closed at the end of the exposition.^[1] After the exposition, the uonozoki was demolished.

In 1929, the Ueno Aquarium was opened in the same place at Ueno Zoo. In 1952, aquariums started breeding saltwater fish based on the experimental results of filtration equipment, etc., and opened the New Ueno Aquarium in 1964. The New Ueno Aquarium started to use acrylic glass for large tanks in earnest. In 1964, acrylic panels with a height of 2 metres (6.6 ft), a width of 18 metres (59 ft), and a thickness of 7 centimetres (0.23 ft) were installed.^[1]

In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Ueno Zoo, a plan was formulated to build the largest aquarium in Japan. The new aquarium officially opened in 1989 as Tokyo Sea Life Park.^[1] All the creatures kept in the Ueno Aquarium, which subsequently closed, were inherited by Tokyo Sea Life Park.^[1]

Overview

Approximately 650 species of organisms are kept in 47 tanks, including tuna that inhabit a large donut-shaped tank.

When the park opened, it was the largest and most popular public aquarium in Japan. The annual number of visitors in the first year of the park reached 3.55 million, far exceeding the Japanese record at that time (2.4 million at Suma Aqualife Park in 1987). The record was not broken until Osaka Aquarium was inaugurated.^{[citation needed]}

Tokyo Sea Life Park held the world's first successful exhibition of nurseryfish. In addition, many of the exhibited organisms are directly and locally collected by the Research Section of the Breeding and Exhibition Division. Rare organisms can be seen especially in polar aquariums.

Entering the park is free on the following days: May 4 (Greenery Day), October 1 (Tokyo Citizen's Day), and October 10 (Tokyo Sea Life Park's anniversary.)

Renewal

As the facility is aging after more than 30 years in existence, considerations are underway for a new facility. The aquarium solicited opinions from the citizens of Tokyo at the end of 2018. In January 2019, the aquarium formulated a basic plan for the new facility on the premises. In February 2020, a study group of experts approved the plan report. The scale of the new facility is expected to have a total floor area of about 22,500 square meters, with maintenance costs of 24 to 27 billion yen.^[3] A business plan was to be formulated by the end of 2020, with the new aquarium expected to open in 2026.^[4]

Exhibits

Although the museum is large with many exhibits, display methods are simple and only have the names and pictures of organisms shown. Despite this, there are also picture guides and rooms with specialized staff. As a service improvement, digital photo frame panels with commentary were added next to tanks in May 2011.

The aquarium was the first in Japan to successfully hold Pacific bluefin tuna and scalloped hammerhead specimens in long-term captivity. Bluefin tuna with weak skin were paid close attention to in collection and transportation.^[1]

The aquarium has also established a method for growing seaweed that require good water quality, water flow, and sufficient light, such as giant kelp, in a closed indoor tank. Tokyo Sea Life Park maintains friendly ties with Monterey Bay Aquarium in regards to kelp exhibition.^[1]

In 1999, the park acquired two blue sharks which inhabited their tanks for 210 and 246 days. This was the longest captivity record until it was overtaken by the Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium.^[5] In 2020, aquariums started captivity of two blue sharks and kept them for five months.^[6]

• Aquarium
  • Second floor
    • A group of sharks, rays, and sardines such as scalloped hammerhead and blacktip reef shark are exhibited. In the past, the pelagic thresher and bonnethead were also exhibited.
  • First floor
    • "Voyagers of the Sea" is a doughnut-shaped 2,200 m³ (580,000 US gal) tank. It was the largest indoor tank in Japan in 1989. The tank connects to the second floor, but it is a different tank from the one where sharks are exhibited. Pacific bluefin tuna, mackerel tuna, striped bonito, houndfish, Rhina ancylostoma, and scalloped hammerhead are exhibited. The tank is also home to other species such as blue shark, ocean sunfish, Indo-Pacific sailfish, longtail tuna, tiger shark, and shortfin mako shark. Seats are installed in the Aqua Theater next to it, so visitors can enjoy it calmly.
    • "Seas of the World" - The exhibits are divided into the Pacific Ocean, Indian Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean, Deep sea, Arctic Ocean/Antarctic Ocean. In the past, goblin sharks and Brama japonica have been exhibited in the deep sea tank.
    • "Nagisa Species" - Mullet, red seabream, common octopus, amefurashi, etc. A touching pool with Starfish and Sea urchin is also in this section. In addition, if various conditions are met, sharks such as bullhead sharks can also be touched.
    • "Four Species" of "Penguin Ecology" - In this section, Humboldt penguins, king penguins, rockhopper penguins, and fairy penguins are kept outdoors. However, king penguins and rockhopper penguins are vulnerable to the summer heat and are kept indoors with a cooling facility in the summer. This is not open to the public.
    • "Seaweed Forest" - Exhibition centered on giant kelp
    • "The Sea of Tokyo" - Organisms from the Ogasawara Islands, Seven Islands of Izu, and Tokyo Bay are displayed separately. Pagrus major, Spiny red gurnard, etc. are kept in this section.^[7]
    • "Ecology of sea birds" - Murre, tufted puffin, etc.
• Freshwater Aquarium
  • This section exhibits freshwater Japanese species such as Oikawa, Iwana, Yamame, and killifish.

Research and conservation

At Tokyo Sea Life Park, aquariums working on the conservation and breeding of rare species both in Japan and overseas.

• Foreign species: Humboldt penguins, Fairy penguins etc.
• Domestic species:Japanese fire belly newt, Shuttles hoppfish, Amphibians from Tokyo (Tokyo salamander, Japanese wrinkled frog, Japanese brown frog, etc.), Japanese Oryzias, Acheilognathus typus, Chaetodon daedalma etc.

In 2007, he also succeeded in Spawning of Leafy seadragon.^[8] Humboldt penguins and Little penguins will work at JAZA member buildings. I am in charge of breeding adjustment, and I am making adjustments so that the pairing is genetically appropriate. Japanese fire belly newt is also known as Ueno Zoo, Tama Zoological Park, and Inokashira Park Zoo. The habitat is conserved jointly by the four gardens. In addition, the results of research and research in a wide range of fields are utilized for exhibitions. aquarium conducting surveys and research on the breeding of aquatic organisms by accumulating his how and data through research and research on food, habitat, breeding environment etc., and inspection and dissection of dead individuals. Aquarium is focusing on the breed of bluefin tuna, and spawning was confirmed for the first time in the world in a closed tank on land.^[9]

aquariums working on continuous monitoring of the natural environment in Tokyo, jointly researching water quality maintenance technologies such as denitrification with companies, and improving breeding environment technologies.^[1]

Ocellated Icefish

On February 12, 2013, the ocellated icefish (Channichthyidae, Chionodraco rastrospinosus) spawned in captivity for the first time on record. There were about 500 eggs with a diameter of about 4.5 mm. The time when the eggs would hatch was unknown, and the aquarium speculated that "if it is about the same as other Antarctic fish, it will be six months later."^[10][11] This is the world's first example of breeding a ocellated icefish.^[12]

Accident

Penguin escape

On March 3, 2012, a Humboldt penguin kept at the aquarium was found to have escaped into Tokyo Bay.^[13] On May 24 of the same year, it was found at the foot of Gyotoku Bridge [ja],^[14] safely protected, and reopened to the public on June 7.^[15][16][17]

Tuna and skipjack tuna wiped out in 2015

As of December 1, 2014, 63 bluefin tuna, 67 Mackerel tuna, and 35 Striped bonito were kept in a large tank for migratory fish, but from the beginning of the same month, these individuals died one after another. Mackerel tuna on January 18, 2015, Striped bonito on January 26 of the same year, and as of January 26, only 3 bluefin tuna The bluefin tuna were also wiped out on January 26, 2015, leaving only 3 bluefin tuna.^[18][19] The cause has not been determined, but pathological tests have revealed the virus in spleen cells of bluefin tuna and Mackerel tuna.^[20]

One more died on February 25, and another on March 24, leaving only one remaining. In April 2016, Aquarium announced the final results of its investigation, which indicated that the mass mortality was not caused by a single factor, but by the multilayered and combined effects of multiple direct and indirect factors. The view was expressed.^[21][22][23]　

After consultation with various experts, measures were taken to address several factors that were thought to have contributed to the problem. These have since been phased out, with tuna being brought in, and the situation has returned to a state similar to that prior to 2014, but without the mass mortality trends seen in previous years.^[24]

See also

• Ueno Zoo
• Aquamarine Fukushima
• Diamond and Flower Ferris Wheel
• National Museum of Nature and Science

References

External links

• Tokyo Sea Life Park Tokyo zoo net ［official］ English
• Tokyo Sea Life Park Tokyo zoo net officialSite Japanese
• Tokyo zoo net ［official］ on X Japanese
• Tokyo Sea Life Park［official］ on X Japanese

Districts

Komatsugawa Area	Hirai Komatsugawa
Matsue Area	Chūō Funabori Higashikomatsugawa Matsue Matsushima Nishiichinoe Nishikomatsugawachō Ōsugi
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Kasai Area	Higashikasai Horichō Kitakasai Minamikasai Nakakasai Nishikasai [ja] Rinkaichō Seishinchō Ukitachō
Kamoto Area	Higashimatsumoto Hon'isshiki Kamiisshiki Matsumoto Okinomiyachō Shishibone Shishibonechō Yagouchi
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