Aquarium Pula
Akvarijum Pula
Abstract
Aquarium Pula is the biggest and privately owned public aquarium in Croatia, opened in 2002. It is situated in an Austro-Hungarian fortress Verudela (protected historical monument, part of a large fortification ring encircling Pula) on more than 2000 m2. Exhibition focuses mostly on Adriatic and Mediterranean species with a significant marine and freshwater tropical display, as well as a cold freshwater part. Currently, Aquarium has about 130 000 liters of water in a large number of tanks, sizing from 50 to 36 000 liters. Our future projects are building new tanks on three levels in the central part of the fort and hopefully, in collaboration with La Rochelle Aquarium and Coutan groupe, a big tunnel aquarium in the moat for larger shark species. Since its opening the Aquarium is in a state of constant growth and development, so from humble beginnings it has grown to a respectable institution, focusing not only on exhibiting animals but also on education, marine turtle care, research and animal breeding. We have had success in breeding sea horses, jellyfish and cuttlefish, with future plans of setting up a breeding lab. The Marine Turtle Rescue Centre, first of its kind in Croatia, began operating within the Aquarium in 2005, providing medical treatment for sick and injured turtles and raising public awareness on endangered species. The work of the Centre has been widely recognized, so it is a part of a large transnational project concerning the protection of marine turtles and cetaceans (NETCET). With education being an important part of our work, Aquarium Pula offers innovative and interesting educational themes through our „Blue school“ program. The majority of participants are high school students from Germany and Austria and the program is becoming more and more popular every season. Akvarium Pula je najveći javni akvarijum u Hrvatskoj (u privatnom vlasništvu), otvoren 2002.god. Smešten je u austro-ugarskoj tvrđavi Verudela (zaštićeni spomenik kulture, deo fortifikacijskog prstena oko Pule) na površini većoj od 2000 m2. Izložba je fokusirana na jadranske i sredozemne vrste, uz veliki morski i slatkovodni dio, ali i slatkovodni hladnovodni. Akvarium trenutno sadrži oko 130 000 litara vode u velikom broju bazena, zapremnine od 50 do 36 000 litara. Naši budući projekti su izgradnja novih bazena na tri nivoa u središnjem dijelu utvđenja i, ukoliko se ostvari saradnja sa firmom La Rochelle Aquarium and Coutan groupe, veliki tunelski akvarij u rovu za veće vrste morskih pasa. Od svog otvaranja Aquarium je u procesu konstantnog rasta i razvoja, tako da je od skromnih početaka narastao u respektabilnu instituciju, fokusirajući se ne samo na izlaganje životinja nego i na edukaciju, brigu o morskim kornjačama, istraživanje i razmnožavanje životinja. Do sada smo imali uspjeha s razmnožavanjem morskih konjića, meduza i sipa, s budućim planovima uspostavljanja labosa za razmnožavanje. Centar za oporavak morskih kornjača, prvi ove vrste u Hrvatskoj, počeo je delovati unutar Akvariuma 2005. god., pružajući medicinsku pomoć bolesnim i ozleđenim morskim kornjačama i educirajući javnost o ugroženim vrstama. Rad Centra je prepoznat i u širim okvirima, tako da je Centar deo velikog transnacionalnog projekta koji se bavi morskim kornjačama, kitovima i dupinima (NETCET). Pošto je edukacija važan dio našeg posla, Akvarium Pula nudi inovativne i interesantne edukativne teme kroz program „Plava škola“. Većina polaznika su srednjoškolci iz Nemačke i Austrije, a program postaje svake sezone sve popularniji.