The Oceanario de Lisboa is an extraordinary looking building that sits in an old dock isolated from shore and accessed by a covered walkway. The whole building is essentially a huge fishtank, its the biggest aquarium in Europe and the second biggest in the world. As Lynne is very fond of creatures and there is no beach or decent snorkelling to be had on our doorstep we decided that joining as members would provide us with a good rainy day venue. o for a year we can visit as many times as we like.
I believe we will as it really is a fantastic experience. On our initial visit the entrance hall had sculptures made from plastic bottles, this highlights the fragile nature of the environment we live and travel on.
The actual building is essentially on two levels, you enter from above and work downwards passing through four different environments as you move around the central tank.
I am very fond of the large rays, the one below is a manta, for scale the curved glazed window behind the ray is two stories high !
There are four environments roughly located at the corners of the building, the first you encounter is very familiar, Its the North Atlantic. There are guano covered cliffs and cold water home to Guillemots and puffins. (note bills are dull as it is outside breeding season )
There are Razorbills too, and its possible to get extremely close to the birds.
At waist height are glass panels that allow you to observe the auks flying underwater, something they tend to do much better than in the air!
There are other environments Antarctic, Indian Ocean and Tropical.
There are sea otters. Rock hopper and Megallenic penguins.
The environments above correspond to the environments below and its possible to go further into the underwater part of each as you descend to the lower levels
Of course you always return to the main tank and its wonderful creatures.
I for one could spend all day just sitting and watching.
And I know that Lynne can and will too!
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