Churaumi Aquarium, Okinawa, Japan

whale shark tank at the churaumi aquarium in okinawa, japan

We spent our last day in Okinawa at the Churaumi Aquarium and a few sites between Naha and the aquarium. All of the guidebooks say that the aquarium is more than 2 hours away from Naha by car, but we made it in about an hour and a half.

The Kuroshio Sea tank is impressive, holding 80 species of fish in its 10m x 35m x 27m (H x W x D) volume. Three whale sharks and a bunch of manta (and other) rays were the highlights, and regardless of what one may think about whether whale sharks should be kept in captivity, it was an impressive sight.

the coral sea exhibit

The Coral Sea exhibit showcases reef-building species local to the Okinawa area. The aquarium's website states:

This tank showcases a collection of Okinawan reef-building corals, allowing you an intimate look at corals and the habitat of the creatures in this tank. Our plan is to raise coral colonies and eventually return them to the sea to thrive.

*The corals in this Aquarium were collected under special permission and have been growing here for about 10 years.

Some of the corals did look like they were thriving, but compared to coral reefs I've seen in the wild, the captive reef looked barren and devoid of life. Still, if the corals there have been growing for 10 years without any problems, I see no problem in sustaining them in an aquarium for people to see. Everyone we saw was fascinated by the exhibit, and getting people interested in the ocean is a great thing!

the sign says that mantis shrimp taste really good

There was a mantis shrimp exhibit with an accompanying sign stating that mantis shrimp taste really good. I thought a sign like that was incredibly tacky, especially at an aquarium that celebrates LIVING marine life.

the dolphin lagoon show

The Dolphin Lagoon was tiny, and I was surprised that they were holding so many captive dolphins in such a small space. We went to see the show, which was a huge hit amongst the Japanese audience. They oohhed and ahhed at a level unsurpassed by any American audience I have ever seen. I don't know what species of dolphin the large, black ones were -- perhaps, pilot whales? Whatever they were, I have never seen them in the wild. They have huge teeth!

tiny manatee holding area

I was really depressed by the manatee tank. It was tiny, and the manatees swam around in little circles, endlessly.

lower entrance of the churaumi aquarium

Some of my conservation friends are against aquariums of any kind, but I am not. Most people on the planet have no access to living marine life and only see the ocean as a source of food (or fear). It's important to have a place to go where one can see and interact with marine life; otherwise, how are people going to know that there is something worth protecting?

see all photos at flickr

It's important to have a place to go where one can see and interact with marine life; otherwise, how are people going to know that there is something worth protecting?

Interesting Eric. Yes that's the sentiment that Sylvia Earle stated numerous times also. And I agree. I also wonder what other sort of conservation activities that aquarium is involved in?

But I too am most upset about the small manatee tank...., and no rubbing enrichment items or anything for them? I'm sure (at least I'd hope) they work with the manatees daily with items to stimulate their curiosity and intelligence as marine mammals. Plus manatee love a little sunlight and I don't see much? Hopefully their tank situation is scheduled for improvement. Did you comment on it directly to the aquarium?

Your shot of the whale shark exhibit does indeed look impressive. What is their survival record with those creatures? I assume they were the first to have them displayed to the public?

And yes I too am surprised with how many cetaceans are sometimes kept in small tanks and that must change. Was there a larger holding pool connected or was that the only space?

Thanks Eric, I like to see examples of aquariums and what they are doing in other countries and also to see what really needs to be improved.

Best, Carol

Eric that dolphin is a false killer whale (Pseudoorca C....?). Captured from taiji probably

Oh and I hope you take close pictures of the whalesharks sex... they usually change after a few years for some 'strange' reason.

The japanese tend to ooh ahh more than any other culture I know.

Carol -- click through to the photos at flickr to see more.

I'm not sure what the records on whale shark survival are. What's interesting, though, is that I went to visit some contacts at the Academia Sinica in Taipei, and they showed me photos and specimens of 300 baby whale sharks they pulled from a pregnant female some time ago. They gave 2-3 live babies to Japan to be raised in captivity. I'm not sure what happened to those; does anyone know?

The people at the Center of Biodiversity at the Academia Sinica are like-minded and conservation-focused. They will be great contacts to have. I'm working with them and with the Protect the Sharks Foundation to put up a shark photo and conservation exhibit in various museums around Taiwan. It will likely be more useful than the "preaching to the choir" sort of conservation work that we normally do.

Eric, there unfortunately is a dark side to the Whale Shark exhibit. The Yomitan Fishermans Assoc. keeps a deep water pen off the coast not far from the aquarium which houses at any time several whale sharks. As the sharks in the exhibit begin to shown signs of "failure to thrive" they are removed and exchanged for those in the pen kept off shore. Until recent years even those kept in the pen were not fed or had their health checked. It was up to various conservation minded persons like Takeshi Sugiura and others like him that the whale sharks became to be regarded as something more than just some fish that were caught. Now there is some effort at least to feed and maintain somewhat regular health checks.

A dive with the whale sharks in the offshore pen is pretty popular here with the mainland Japanese tourists and runs about 14000 yen for the boat and dive fee.

Islandbound

I wrote about this deceit in 99 when I first found out about the 'rehabilitation' of the whalesharks. The original story of the Yomitan Fisherman's Association was that the whalesharks were caught in the fishing nets and brought back for nursing until healthy. And they allowed people to dive with them to offset costs. Of course, ¥12000 a pop back then for 20 mins in the water with the sharks, they realised it was good money. So they sold the 2 they had and went out and caught 2 more. I forget which was which but the 2 pairs were male and female respectively. The japanese divers didn't care and they even had a video showing how they caught the new whalesharks and had to snap the head of a hammer in the net while hunting for the big sharks. Ret Col. John Chandler wrote an article promoting people to dive in Okinawa with the freshly caught whalesharks, 'believing' that they were the original. There was proof they weren't but Sport Diver magazine at the time didn't bother to check their online story sources. I wrote in to Brian (the SD editor at the time) and he decided not to care.

Good to know that the fish are at least taken care of now. Unfortunately, there's a market for whalesharks now, live ones that is.

Those nets are 10m deep and 30m in diameter. Apparently cost over 100k to build those net pens. When I was there, they'd feed two 5kg bags of krill a day when the divers jump in. While I dislike captive animals, I really dislike watching a big animal starve as I'm sure there's more than 10kg of krill a day to eat out at sea, and only on days when divers were coming. The ones I saw were shipped off to the aquarium. I recognized it from the markings and fin cuts.

Pen dives are pretty popular in Japan. There were mola mola and dolphin dives as well up north. I am not surprised the YFA are still out there catching whalesharks for the market. I do oppose it but if it's sustainable, then I can't see why anyone would stop it. But I'm surprised since whalehsharks are Apendix III on CITES, how is it possible that they are still being traded? Don't the taiwanese also go out to fish whalesharks for the aquarium trade?

I wasn't saying the captive whale shark program doesn't have a dark side. I was saying that the exhibit itself was quite impressive and had a profound effect on the people standing on the other side of the acrylic.

But I am definitely interested in more details about the whale shark program at the aquarium. Does anyone know current details about survival rates and whether the sharks are swapped in and out often?

Eric

I doubt anyone who wasn't involved in the business would know accurately. When I was there, it was the staff at YFA who told us that the whalesharks weren't the originals and even chuckled at my naivety.

The aquarium claims to have the longest living captive whaleshark in the world at 9 years. I haven't been back to confirm it was the whaleshark I saw. Do you have pics of the whaleshark's tail? I should have some reference tail shots for approx ID.

The rotation of the sharks apparently help survival rates. Obviously it's not just about feeding.

Drew - here are some tails:

Damn you're efficient. I have to hit my backup server now. But not today. screaming kids day here. How many did they have in the tank?

Happy hols.

As the original text states, there were three whale sharks in there.