The Ocean Expo Park was our next stop which contains the Churaumi Aquarium, Manatee Pool, Sea Turtle Pool, Dolphin Lagoon, Native Okinawan Village, and Tropical Dream Center.
There was a large flower shark and many other displays put together with flowers of other sea creatures. Not to worry, I broke that shark so we could ride him around.
We started out heading for the aquarium which is huge and is the only one that is big enough to house whale sharks.
There
are divers in the tank with the rays and whale sharks. One was filming and the
other was cleaning the acrylic surface. I wonder if they draw straws to see who
scrubs? The big whale shark is 8.5 meters long. The acrylic is laminated to
about 60 cm thick. The aquarium
introduces an open system in which sea water that is scooped from the ocean
enters the aquarium tanks and then is returned to the ocean once again.
No petting the sharks.
Journey to the “Kurosh” exhibited the Shark
Lab, the Kuroshio Sea, and Aqua Room. Journey into the Deep Sea was the last
exhibit area for the aquarium building with sections for Deep Sea Gallery,
Small Marine Life in the Deep Sea, Deep Sea, Ocean Planetarium, Aqua Lab and
the gift shop (of course!).
Next we were off to the Manatee section, Sea
Turtles and then the dolphin show.
Lastly, off to the Tropical Dream Center! The
entrance/gift shop is the Stained Glass Hall.
This is one wall inside the hall.
The
grounds were impressive with all the tropical flowers and displays. It rivaled
the Botanical Gardens but in a different way as this was a much more intimate
arrangement that invite leisure and contemplation.
The view from the top of the Observatory was impressive as it is about 6 stories tall and is already up on a cliff. You did not realize that the courtyard area flowers were in a heart shape until looking down at them.
This was a long but wonderful day.
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