You've had a glimpse of the Osaka Aquarium Kaiyukan before on my blog, and today I show you a bit more.
The Kaiyukan sitting on the edge of the water near Osaka Bay is one of the largest public aquariums in the world. Designed by British architect Peter Chermayeff, I think the building has a wonderful unique style. I especially like the tiled mural.
Osaka, 2009
No one is sitting on the benches this morning, because it was raining... making it the perfect day to explore inside. There were a good number of school groups here this day.
And parents with their young. "Look ma, the manta ray is smiling at me!"
As well as other photography enthusiasts. Who's lookin' at who?
Interesting facts borrowed from Wikipedia: The walk-through aquarium displays marine life in several habitats comprising 27 tanks in 16 main exhibits with a total volume of 10,941 tons of water. The habitats are from the Ring of Fire area of the Pacific Ocean. The largest tank is 9 metres (30 ft) deep and holds 5,400 cubic metres (190,699 cu ft) of water and a variety of fish including manta rays and a pair of whale sharks.
I watched the sardines going round and round and round endlessly and couldn't help but reflect upon the human condition.
Back to the wiki: The tanks used in the aquarium are made of 314 tonnes (346 tons) of acrylic glass - roughly 1.5 times the world's annual production. The largest single pane measures six meters by five meters by thirty centimeters and weighs roughly 10 tons. At the thicknesses used, regular glass would be unwieldy and would not have the desired transparency.
I've linked my post to Weekend Reflections where you'll find others from around the world sharing their reflections.
