Number 27.:Istanbul Aquarium (Turkey).
And we are back in Turkey. This is the first one that isn’t actually terrible. Despite that, I do not like this facility on the basis of what I found out on my revisit. Even before then, something about it rubbed me the wrong way. In fact I was going to do the stupid act of placing this facility below Oji zoo and Himeji Central Park on the basis that I know that I would not revisit this place again. Yet I did revisit. Only with the intention to share an image of the gentoo penguin enclosure.
Istanbul Aquarium (spelled as Akvaryum in Turkish) is located in Florya which is on the coast of the European side of the Bosphorus. This aquarium is the only WAZA accredited facility in Turkey. I am not kidding. And when you see the listing referring the zoo as a Tourism
The facility focuses on a route that starts with the Black Sea, followed by the Bosphorus, the Dardanelles, the Aegean Sea, the Red Sea, the polar regions, the Atlantic Ocean, the Panama Canal, the Pacific Ocean, before ending it with the Amazon rainforest. These range from fine, to forgettable (the Dardanelles and the Strait of Gibraltar section), and the Amazon (my least favorite). I am totally fine with this section not having free-ranging birds and mammals from South America since I wouldn’t trust the visitors to not disturb or feed such animals. However two reptiles and four labeled amphibians (only two of which were on display) is not enough in my opinion. What doesn’t help the Amazon exhibit is how the misting/rain system seems to be placed above the visitor path which makes it hard to travel in this hot and humid enclosure without a raincoat. Siad misters also make it dangerous for anyone to take out their phone or camera. The biggest offense this enclosure has is the capybara enclosure which houses a single animal in what looks like a small concrete pen.
There are a lot of education boards in this facility which cover every possible wall. This sounds nice on paper but it gets overwhelming starting at the second exhibit, which is when I stopped reading. I guess it is the thought that counts. The animal signs thankfully are not all outdated although there may be some contradicting with their current enclosures. The diversity of animals is fine, especially if you are an underwater ectotherm supremacist who cannot bear seeing mammals and birds for any reason. But I don’t know if the collection of animals is spectacular since I have little to no knowledge on how common or rare certain species are. However if you are an enjoyer of freshwater fish then I’d curb my enthusiasm since there are only two exhibits that focus on freshwater habitats: the Black Sea and the Amazon.
I first visited this facility around 2011 with some family members. I didn’t hate the aquarium, I found it sort of interesting. Sort of. However, I never have thought about revisiting it. Despite being somewhat big, there was something that prevented me from being too interested, but that may be me wishing that I could see seals or sea lions again after 2 years. There is also the fact that around the time, Turkish aquariums seemed like they were made for getting tourist money or visitors to a nearby shopping mall, rather than research and conservation. Facilities such as SeaLife Istanbul (which used to be called TurkuaZoo*) and AquaVega confirmed my observation, as narrow-minded as it sounds. This was proven right to me for the third time, when I revisited the aquarium only to see the gift shop be connected to the mall right next to the aquarium. Which blows because when I visited the mall was just being built and I thought it was an expansion for the aquarium. It would have been awesome to see a fine facility in Turkey to improve or expand and introduce to the citizens of Turkey more residents of the sea and freshwater systems. Alas, Turkey apparently needs more shopping malls. Also from my revisit the hermit crabs, one of my favorites from my first visit, were gone.
I am definitely not revisiting the Istanbul Aquarium anytime soon. I don't even know if this facility should be a WAZA member. I can’t even come up with a hypothetical way this facility could expand itself or the collection since its management seems to have painted itself into a corner. However if you one day happen to be a tourist in Istanbul feel free to take a look at the aquarium and come up with your own conclusions. It is within walking distance of a train station on the Marmaray line. And for anyone who is fortunate enough to not be paid with peanuts or Turkish Lira, the price is cheap compared to other aquariums around the world ($13.66). So if you feel like your visit was not worth it don’t worry too much about it .
And we are back in Turkey. This is the first one that isn’t actually terrible. Despite that, I do not like this facility on the basis of what I found out on my revisit. Even before then, something about it rubbed me the wrong way. In fact I was going to do the stupid act of placing this facility below Oji zoo and Himeji Central Park on the basis that I know that I would not revisit this place again. Yet I did revisit. Only with the intention to share an image of the gentoo penguin enclosure.
Istanbul Aquarium (spelled as Akvaryum in Turkish) is located in Florya which is on the coast of the European side of the Bosphorus. This aquarium is the only WAZA accredited facility in Turkey. I am not kidding. And when you see the listing referring the zoo as a Tourism
The facility focuses on a route that starts with the Black Sea, followed by the Bosphorus, the Dardanelles, the Aegean Sea, the Red Sea, the polar regions, the Atlantic Ocean, the Panama Canal, the Pacific Ocean, before ending it with the Amazon rainforest. These range from fine, to forgettable (the Dardanelles and the Strait of Gibraltar section), and the Amazon (my least favorite). I am totally fine with this section not having free-ranging birds and mammals from South America since I wouldn’t trust the visitors to not disturb or feed such animals. However two reptiles and four labeled amphibians (only two of which were on display) is not enough in my opinion. What doesn’t help the Amazon exhibit is how the misting/rain system seems to be placed above the visitor path which makes it hard to travel in this hot and humid enclosure without a raincoat. Siad misters also make it dangerous for anyone to take out their phone or camera. The biggest offense this enclosure has is the capybara enclosure which houses a single animal in what looks like a small concrete pen.
There are a lot of education boards in this facility which cover every possible wall. This sounds nice on paper but it gets overwhelming starting at the second exhibit, which is when I stopped reading. I guess it is the thought that counts. The animal signs thankfully are not all outdated although there may be some contradicting with their current enclosures. The diversity of animals is fine, especially if you are an underwater ectotherm supremacist who cannot bear seeing mammals and birds for any reason. But I don’t know if the collection of animals is spectacular since I have little to no knowledge on how common or rare certain species are. However if you are an enjoyer of freshwater fish then I’d curb my enthusiasm since there are only two exhibits that focus on freshwater habitats: the Black Sea and the Amazon.
I first visited this facility around 2011 with some family members. I didn’t hate the aquarium, I found it sort of interesting. Sort of. However, I never have thought about revisiting it. Despite being somewhat big, there was something that prevented me from being too interested, but that may be me wishing that I could see seals or sea lions again after 2 years. There is also the fact that around the time, Turkish aquariums seemed like they were made for getting tourist money or visitors to a nearby shopping mall, rather than research and conservation. Facilities such as SeaLife Istanbul (which used to be called TurkuaZoo*) and AquaVega confirmed my observation, as narrow-minded as it sounds. This was proven right to me for the third time, when I revisited the aquarium only to see the gift shop be connected to the mall right next to the aquarium. Which blows because when I visited the mall was just being built and I thought it was an expansion for the aquarium. It would have been awesome to see a fine facility in Turkey to improve or expand and introduce to the citizens of Turkey more residents of the sea and freshwater systems. Alas, Turkey apparently needs more shopping malls. Also from my revisit the hermit crabs, one of my favorites from my first visit, were gone.
I am definitely not revisiting the Istanbul Aquarium anytime soon. I don't even know if this facility should be a WAZA member. I can’t even come up with a hypothetical way this facility could expand itself or the collection since its management seems to have painted itself into a corner. However if you one day happen to be a tourist in Istanbul feel free to take a look at the aquarium and come up with your own conclusions. It is within walking distance of a train station on the Marmaray line. And for anyone who is fortunate enough to not be paid with peanuts or Turkish Lira, the price is cheap compared to other aquariums around the world ($13.66). So if you feel like your visit was not worth it don’t worry too much about it .