What are the world-class aquariums of the world, and what makes one "world class"?

Seaworld executives have hinted at international expansion.



Most of Sea World's research into Orca has been assisted reproductive techniques. Their last 2 births were both sired by an Orca in Argentina through AI. With separate gene pools in Japan and France, there is enough genetic diversity in captivity to sustain a population.

Indeed. There are a total of three completely individual male lines in the US, along with an additional 3 separate lines in France, Japan, and Argentina. There are also a few other animals that have links to the current sires, however they are not direct offspring, and were sired by males that are no longer alive.

As for females, there are roughly 7-8 completely separate lines that are capable of reproducing. There are numerous other females I opted not to account for as they have type ins with the 7 or so "founding lines", so for sake of argument I left them out. There is one additional line, however I am hesitant to go over it, as the mother is completely unrepresented out side of her two offspring and is sadly deceased, however those two offspring were sired by the most over represented male in captivity, so I am hesitant to say it is a distinct line.

So to summarize, the captive population could sustain itself without any new blood and limited inbreeding for a relatively decent number of years, however eventually something will need to be done to add new blood.

Luckily, that problem is being solved as we speak. Russian Orca captures have taken place over the last two years, and even if they stop now, we have an additional 8 new wild caught founders added to the population. At least 3 are female and two are male, and there other 3 are unknown. At the moment 4 look to be heading to Russian dolphinariums, 2 look to be heading to China, and the fate of the other 2 are unknown, however there is rumour they might be headed to marineland Canada. That would be the best option, as their ageing female has no surviving offspring and less than 10 years of reproductive life left.

Additionally, Russian captures are likely to occur again, so our amount of new blood has potential to increase again. Although there is controversy over it (largely by the emotionally swayed "anti-cap" community), these captures are necessary to ensure the genetic health of captive populations, and like it or not these are animals are needed rather badly.


Oh, and to touch on Snowleopards post about cetaceans in Canada, everything you said is correct, however within the next 5-10 years, I would not be surprised to see those numbers increase at Vancouver. With the expansion of their currently facilities occurring, and through speaking to trainers at the aquarium, it sounds like they will be bringing in new animals once the expansions are complete. They currently have 2 animals on loan to Seaworld, and a third that he been down there for quite some time. I would not be surprised to see those animals and perhaps a few others return to the aquarium. As well, I would not be surprised to see more White Sided Dolphins, most likely sourced captive bred or rescued from Japan, or possibly even from the united states.

Marineland is also the largest powerhouse for captive breeding belugas on the planet, and they are not overly keen to share. Assuming they have animals of both genders they have also proven adept at producing orca as well. Sadly their last breeding male was thought to have a genetic anomaly, with many off his offspring having problems (seizures, stunted growth, compromised immune system, etc...) and the last of his line died out in 2009.
 
Georgia Aquarium must be a strong candidate for having the most water of any aquarium on the planet and the biggest in terms of size. There are plenty of marquee species there as well: whale shark, beluga whale, bottlenose dolphin, sea otter, small-clawed otter, harbor seal, manta ray, loggerhead sea turtle, American alligator, African penguin, etc. There are only two aquariums in all of the western hemisphere (Shedd and Monterey Bay) that are truly comparable in terms of sheer size, diversity and all-around quality.

Statistics:

10 million gallons of water
120,000 fish
604,000 square feet
70 miles of pipe
500+ species
Why not Valencia and Lisbon too?

Valencia and Lisbon are world class aquaria that do belong in the list, but I suspect snowleopard used "Western Hemisphere" in the way it often is used; only the Americas. (leaving out the European countries that, in some definitions, are in the WH.)

Georgia is among the largest aquaria in the world, but in area and total water volume it is behind Valencia. However, the current record holder for water volume is the recently opened S.E.A Aquarium in Singapore. In number of species, quite a lot of aquaria around the world are ahead of Georgia. I have no clue about the length of the pipes at various aquaria around the world :cool: . Regardless, Georgia has the record for the largest single aquarium, the incredibly impressive Ocean Voyager.

... but, as I'm sure we can all agree, making judgements based on numbers can be misleading. For example, Monterey Bay is easily one of the absolutely best aquaria, but in water volume, area and number of species it's not even in the top-10 worldwide!
 
I did indeed use the term "Western Hemisphere" to refer to the Americas, but of course a few European nations just barely squeak into that part of the world!

Here is how I'd rank the 41 aquariums that I've been to in North America, and in brackets is the year(s) of my visits:

1- Shedd Aquarium (2008)
2- Georgia Aquarium (2008)
3- Monterey Bay Aquarium (2011, 2008, 2006)
4- National Aquarium in Baltimore (2010)
5- Tennessee Aquarium (2010)
6- Aquarium of the Pacific (2011)
7- Vancouver Aquarium (every few months)
8- Mystic Aquarium (2012)
9- Steinhart Aquarium (2011)
10- Oregon Coast Aquarium (2013, 2011, 2010)
11- Adventure Aquarium (2012)
12- New England Aquarium (2012)
13- Seattle Aquarium (2012 , 2011 x 5, 2008, 2006)
14- New York Aquarium (2012)
15- Long Island Aquarium (2012)
16- Dallas World Aquarium (2010)
17- Birch Aquarium (2012)
18- Virginia Aquarium (2012)
19- Florida Aquarium (2012)
20- Aquarium of the Americas (2012)
21- Newport Aquarium (2012)
22- South Carolina Aquarium (2012)
23- Maritime Aquarium (2012)
24- North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores (2012)
25- Aquarium of the Bay (2011)
26- Denver Downtown Aquarium (2012)
27- Ripley’s Aquarium at Myrtle Beach (2012)
28- North Carolina Aquarium at Fort Fisher (2012)
29- North Carolina Aquarium at Roanoke Island (2012)
30- Albuquerque Aquarium (2010)
31- Greater Cleveland Aquarium (2012)
32- Jenkinson’s Aquarium (2012)
33- Sea Life Aquarium – Arizona (2011)
34- Cabrillo Marine Aquarium (2011)
35- Hatfield Marine Science Center (2013)
36- Portland Aquarium (2013)
37- National Aquarium in Washington D.C. (2008 – now closed)
38- Seaside Aquarium (2010)
39- Oregon Undersea Gardens (2013)
40- West Edmonton Mall's Sea Life Caverns (2006, 2001, 1986-1975)
Not Ranked (too hard to place a theme park) - San Diego SeaWorld (2011 x 2, 2006)

I've also been to Busselton Aquarium (now closed), Melbourne Aquarium and Sydney Aquarium in Australia.
 
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