Cretaquarium (, ''Enidrio Kritis''), also known as Thalassocosmos (, "sea world"), is a

public aquarium A public aquarium () or public water zoo is the aquatic counterpart of a zoo, which houses living aquatic animal and aquatic plant, plant specimens for public viewing. Most public aquariums feature tanks larger than those kept by home aquarists, ...

located near the town of Gournes in

Crete Crete ( ; , Modern Greek, Modern: , Ancient Greek, Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the List of islands by area, 88th largest island in the world and the List of islands in the Mediterranean#By area, fifth la ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, 15 km east of the city of

Heraklion Heraklion or Herakleion ( ; , , ), sometimes Iraklion, is the largest city and the administrative capital city, capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion (regional unit), Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in G ...

History

The Cretaquarium project was conceived by employees of the former Institute of Marine Biology of Crete (IMBC) to create the first large aquarium in Greece, as part of a marine park for research, education, culture and recreation. Its construction was co-financed by the

European Investment Bank The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the European Union's investment bank and is owned by the 27 member states. It is the largest multilateral financial institution in the world. The EIB finances and invests both through equity and debt sol ...

and the Greek state. Cretaquarium first opened on the site of the former

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

Iraklion Air Station near the town of Gournes in December 2005 and underwent a major expansion during the winter of 2008–9, when 25 new tanks were installed. The aquarium is currently operated by the

Hellenic Centre for Marine Research The Hellenic Centre for Marine Research (HCMR) (Greek language, Greek: Ελληνικό Κέντρο Θαλάσσιων Ερευνών, ΕΛ.ΚΕ.ΘΕ.) is a Greece, Greek governmental Research institute, research organisation, focusing on various ...

, a public research institution.

Exhibits

Cretaquarium is home to more than 2,500 animals of approximately 250 different species, most of which are native to the

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern ...

. It consists of 61 tanks of different sizes, containing a total amount of 1,800,000 liters of water. The aquarium's exhibits are split into five sections:

Playing with the light

In the first section of Cretaquarium there are tanks with

sea life Sea Life is a chain of commercial sea life-themed aquarium attractions. there are 53 Sea Life attractions (including standalone Sea Life centres, mini Sea Life features within resort theme parks, and Legoland submarine rides) around the worl ...

typically found in caves or great depths; and they are displayed in low light conditions. Some of the species in this section are the red scorpionfish, the

common stingray The common stingray (''Dasyatis pastinaca'') is a species of stingray in the family (biology), family Dasyatidae, found in the northeastern Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and Black Seas. It typically inhabits sandy or mud ...

and the dusky grouper.

Open Sea

The second section of the aquarium displays animals living in the

pelagic zone The pelagic zone consists of the water column of the open ocean and can be further divided into regions by depth. The word ''pelagic'' is derived . The pelagic zone can be thought of as an imaginary cylinder or water column between the sur ...

of the

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea ( ) is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the east by the Levant in West Asia, on the north by Anatolia in West Asia and Southern Eur ...

. Both the first and the second largest tanks of the aquarium are in this section, containing 600,000 and 400,000 liters of water each. The scenery in the tanks is inspired from the

seabed The seabed (also known as the seafloor, sea floor, ocean floor, and ocean bottom) is the bottom of the ocean. All floors of the ocean are known as seabeds. The structure of the seabed of the global ocean is governed by plate tectonics. Most of ...

of Vai and Matala. In the "Open Sea" section visitors can see among others sand tiger sharks and

loggerhead sea turtles Loggerhead or Loggerheads may refer to: Places * Loggerheads, Denbighshire, a village in Denbighshire, Wales * Loggerheads, Staffordshire, a small village in north Staffordshire, England * Loggerhead Key, the largest islet in the Dry Tortugas, ...

, as well as common octopuses and Mediterranean slipper lobsters in some smaller tanks.

Coastal areas

The third section of Cretaquarium is called "Coastal areas" and it displays the biotopes of the

coastal zone A coast (coastline, shoreline, seashore) is the land next to the sea or the line that forms the boundary between the land and the ocean or a lake. Coasts are influenced by the topography of the surrounding landscape and by aquatic erosion, su ...

. Here species like the European spiny lobster, the snakelocks anemone and many more can be found.

The Aquarium beyond the glass

In this section visitors can see some animals from up close in shallow open tanks and learn about the secrets of tank-making and how tanks function. Some of the species that are displayed here are the

Mediterranean rainbow wrasse The Mediterranean rainbow wrasse (''Coris julis'') is a small, colourful fish in the family Labridae. It can be found in the Mediterranean Sea and in the northeast Atlantic Ocean from Sweden to Senegal (though it is a rare wanderer to the souther ...

and the moon jellyfish.

Travelling to the Tropics

The last section of the aquarium is dedicated to

tropical fish Tropical fish are fish found in aquatic tropical environments around the world. Fishkeepers often keep tropical fish in freshwater and saltwater aquariums. The term "tropical fish" is not a taxonomic group, but rather is a general term for f ...

and other marine life found in the

tropics The tropics are the regions of Earth surrounding the equator, where the sun may shine directly overhead. This contrasts with the temperate or polar regions of Earth, where the Sun can never be directly overhead. This is because of Earth's ax ...

, focusing on species that are lessepsian migrants. In this section visitors can see

clownfish Clownfishes or anemonefishes (genus ''Amphiprion'') are saltwater fishes found in the warm and tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific. They inhabit mainly coral reefs and have a distinctive colouration typically consisting of white vertical bars on ...

, spinefoots and other animals.

Research

The Institute of Marine Biology, Biotechnology and Aquaculture of the

is based on the premises of Cretaquarium; and as a result the experimental scientific research is an important element of the function of the aquarium. Many of the animals living at the aquarium are constantly observed through cameras for the purpose of studying their life cycle and behavior. Particular emphasis is given on species that are lessepsian migrants, in order to understand the impact that these introduced fish have on the marine ecosystem of Greece. In collaboration with local agencies and environmental organizations, Cretaquarium is also taking care of sick or wounded animals that are then reintroduced into the wild.

References

External links

* * {{Zoos of Greece Museums in Crete Buildings and structures in Heraklion (regional unit) Aquaria in Greece 2005 establishments in Greece