The Oceanium is a

public aquarium A public aquarium (plural: ''public aquaria'' or ''public Water Zoo'') is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and plant specimens for public viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept b ...

that opened in 2001 in

Diergaarde Blijdorp ( ''Blijdorp Zoo''), officially Rotterdam Zoo, is a zoo located in the northwestern part of Rotterdam. It is one of the oldest zoos in the Netherlands, and has been operated by the ("Royal Rotterdam Zoo Foundation"). Divided into several zoogeog ...

, a

zoo A zoo (short for zoological garden; also called an animal park or menagerie) is a facility in which animals are kept within enclosures for public exhibition and often bred for conservation purposes. The term ''zoological garden'' refers to zoo ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. The Oceanium lies in the expansion area of the zoo, which includes a new entrance and parking area, and was the biggest project to date for the zoo. The area around the Oceanium is home to projects depicting

the Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

. The Oceanium is also home to scientific research into the conservation of

coral Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Coral species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and ...

Sunport

On the roof of the Oceanium is the largest

solar power plant A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building- ...

in the Netherlands within the built-up area. The plant has been given the name 'Sunport'. The 5000 square meter roof area of the Oceanium contains around 3400 black/grey colored solar panels, with a combined capacity of 510 kilowatt peak. The solar power station supplies approximately 325,000 kWh of electricity per year. Blijdorp immediately uses the electricity generated in the Oceanium itself, especially to cool the king penguins' enclosure. The solar power plant has cost nearly 3.9 million euros, including construction, maintenance and an educational program. The power station was officially opened by

Ivo Opstelten Ivo Willem Opstelten (born 31 January 1944) is a retired Dutch politician and jurist. He is a member of the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD). Opstelten applied at Leiden University in May 1963 majoring in Law and obtaining an Bac ...

, then mayor of Rotterdam.

Seawater

All aquaria in the Oceanium contain clean seawater, in total that is more than eight million liters of water. Only 2 to 5% of the total is changed monthly, thanks to the 10 filters that keep the water clean with 22 different modules. This means that all the water in the shark tank (3375 m³) can be completely filtered and pumped around in 160 minutes. Blijdorp also receives water from a

Maersk (), also known simply as Maersk (), is a Danish shipping company, active in ocean and inland freight transportation and associated services, such as supply chain management and port operation. Maersk was the largest container shipping line a ...

container ship that loads seawater into its ballast tanks near Newfoundland. In the

Port of Rotterdam The Port of Rotterdam is the largest seaport in Europe, and the world's largest seaport outside of East Asia, located in and near the city of Rotterdam, in the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. From 1962 until 2004, it was the worl ...

, the balance of the ship changes because containers are unloaded on the port side, so that the container ship has to discharge water. If the water quality is good, Blijdorp will have the opportunity to collect the water with an inland vessel that will transport it to the Oceanium.

Animals (selection)

* Puffin *

Guillemot Guillemot is the common name for several species of seabird in the Alcidae or auk family (part of the order Charadriiformes). In British use, the term comprises two genera: '' Uria'' and ''Cepphus''. In North America the ''Uria'' species ...

Eider Eiders () are large seaducks in the genus ''Somateria''. The three extant species all breed in the cooler latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. The down feathers of eider ducks, and some other ducks and geese, are used to fill pillows and quil ...

* European bass *

Gilt-head bream The gilt-head (sea) bream (''Sparus aurata''), known as Orata in antiquity and still today in Italy and Tunisia (known as "Dorada" in Spain, "Dourada" in Portugal and "Dorade Royale" in France), is a fish of the bream family Sparidae found in th ...

Homarus gammarus ''Homarus gammarus'', known as the European lobster or common lobster, is a species of clawed lobster from the eastern Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea and parts of the Black Sea. It is closely related to the American lobster, ''H. ameri ...

* Nursehound * Small-spotted catshark * Starry smooth-hound *

Atlantic sturgeon The Atlantic sturgeon (''Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus'') is a member of the family Acipenseridae and along with other sturgeon it is sometimes considered a living fossil. The Atlantic sturgeon is one of two subspecies of '' A. oxyrinchus'', ...

European plaice The European plaice (''Pleuronectes platessa''), commonly referred to as simply plaice, is a species of marine flatfish in the genus Pleuronectes of the family Pleuronectidae. Description The European plaice is characterized, on their dorsal ...

* Atlantic herring *

Atlantic mackerel The Atlantic mackerel (''Scomber scombrus''), also known as Boston mackerel, Norwegian mackerel, Scottish mackerel or just mackerel, is a species of mackerel found in the temperate waters of the Mediterranean Sea, the Black Sea, and the northern ...

Spiny lobster Spiny lobsters, also known as langustas, langouste, or rock lobsters, are a family (Palinuridae) of about 60 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia. Spiny lobsters are also, especially in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, So ...

* Aurelia aurita *

Nurse shark The nurse shark (''Ginglymostoma cirratum'') is an elasmobranch fish in the family Ginglymostomatidae. The conservation status of the nurse shark is globally assessed as Vulnerable in the IUCN List of Threatened Species. They are considered t ...

Sandbar shark The sandbar shark (''Carcharhinus plumbeus'') also known as the brown shark or thickskin shark, is a species of requiem shark, and part of the family Carcharhinidae, native to the Atlantic Ocean and the Indo-Pacific. It is distinguishable by it ...

* Blacktip shark * Blacknose shark * Green sea turtle * Hawksbill sea turtle *

Great barracuda ''Sphyraena barracuda'', commonly known as the great barracuda, is a species of barracuda: large, predatory ray-finned fish found in subtropical oceans around the world. Distribution and habitat The great barracuda is present in tropical to warm ...

* Hippocampus kuda *

Cownose ray The cownose ray (''Rhinoptera bonasus'') is a species of Batoidea found throughout a large part of the western Atlantic and Caribbean, from New England, United States to southern Brazil (the East Atlantic populations are now generally considered ...

Lookdown The lookdown (''Selene vomer'') is a game fish of the family Carangidae. It was first described in 1758 by Carl Linnaeus, in the 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. Description Although the lookdown is similar to the Atlantic moonfish, it ...

Elops saurus The ladyfish or tenpounder (''Elops saurus'') is a species of fish in the genus '' Elops'', the only genus in the monotypic family Elopidae. Description Like other species in its genus, the ladyfish has a long, slender, rounded body covered wi ...

Long-spine porcupinefish The long-spine porcupinefish (''Diodon holocanthus''), also known as the freckled porcupinefish among other vernacular names, is a species of marine fish in the family Diodontidae. Diet The species' diet includes sea urchins and hard-shelled mo ...

Osteoglossidae Osteoglossidae is a family of large freshwater fish, which includes the arowanas and arapaima. The family contains two subfamilies Arapaiminae and Osteoglossinae, with a total of five living genera. Osteoglossids are basal teleosts that origin ...

Longnose gar The longnose gar (''Lepisosteus osseus''), also known as longnose garpike or billy gar, is a ray-finned fish in the family Lepisosteidae. The genus may have been present in North America for about 100 million years. References are made to gar ...

Cichla ocellaris ''Cichla ocellaris'', sometimes known as the butterfly peacock bass ("peacock bass" is also used for some of its relatives), is a very large species of cichlid from South America, and a prized game fish. It reaches in length. It is native to t ...

King penguin The king penguin (''Aptenodytes patagonicus'') is the second largest species of penguin, smaller, but somewhat similar in appearance to the emperor penguin. There are two subspecies: ''A. p. patagonicus'' and ''A. p. halli''; ''patagonicus'' ...

Gentoo penguin The gentoo penguin ( ) (''Pygoscelis papua'') is a penguin species (or possibly a species complex) in the genus ''Pygoscelis'', most closely related to the Adélie penguin (''P. adeliae'') and the chinstrap penguin (''P. antarcticus''). The ea ...

Galápagos tortoise The Galápagos tortoise or Galápagos giant tortoise (''Chelonoidis niger'') is a species of very large tortoise in the genus ''Chelonoidis'' (which also contains three smaller species from mainland South America). It comprises 15 subspecies ( ...

Horn shark The horn shark (''Heterodontus francisci'') is a species of bullhead shark, in the family Heterodontidae. It is endemic to the coastal waters off the western coast of North America, from California to the Gulf of California. Young sharks are seg ...

Leopard shark The leopard shark (''Triakis semifasciata'') is a species of houndshark, in the family Triakidae. It is found along the Pacific coast of North America, from the U.S. state of Oregon to Mazatlán in Mexico. Typically measuring 1.2–1.5 m (3.9� ...

California sea lion The California sea lion (''Zalophus californianus'') is a coastal eared seal native to western North America. It is one of six species of sea lions. Its natural habitat ranges from southeast Alaska to central Mexico, including the Gulf of C ...

California sheephead The California sheephead (''Semicossyphus pulcher'') is a species of wrasse native to the eastern Pacific Ocean. Its range is from Monterey Bay, California, to the Gulf of California, Mexico. It can live for up to 20 years in favorable condition ...

* Octopus

References

External links

*{{Official website, 1=http://www.diergaardeblijdorp.nl/?lang=EN Oceanaria Buildings and structures in Rotterdam Tourist attractions in Rotterdam