Showing posts with label Iwami Seaside Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Iwami Seaside Park. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 17, 2008

Aquas Aquarium

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Aquas is the largest aquarium in western Honshu and is located within Iwami Seaside Park on Route 9 between Hamada and Gotsu. More than 400 species of critters are on display.There are lots of flying fishes, the Prefectural fish.

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The changing colors of the Cuttlefish fascinated me. It had been more than 40 years since I had been to an aquarium, and I was pleasantly surprised at the displays and environment, not the dark, damp, concrete structures I remember from my childhood.

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What fascinated me the most were the jellyfish, particularly the gentle writhing of their (tails? tendrils?

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I kept coming back to them.

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There is a transparent tunnel under the largest tank filled with turtles, sharks, and all manner of aquatic beings.

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The main attraction is a show by a pair of white Belugas. Apparently they blow bubble rings. I didn't see the show as I was too busy watching the jellyfish.

Monday, June 9, 2008

The bridge at Aquas.

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First-time visitors driving along Route 9 or passing by on the train through Hashi always point to the tower of the bridge at Aquas and ask "What is it?". From a distance the 46 metre tall curved tower doesn't look like a bridge at all. I'm not a civil engineer, but I believe it is an unusual form of cable-stayed bridge.

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The curve of the tower represents a wave, and the 130m long bridge connects one of the fine, white, sandy beaches of Iwami Seaside Park with Aquas, the biggest and best aquarium in west Honshu.

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The tiled surface of blues continues the theme of the sea. Built in 1996, as yet I have been unable to find out who designed it.

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