Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium

Ever since I came to Okinawa I've been wanting to visit Okinawa's Churaumi Aquarium. It's the second largest aquarium in the world behind the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. The main thing that I had heard about was that there were whale sharks there - and they were enormous. I was really surprised when Castillo called me in the late morning inviting me to come with her and her friend, that she knew from her DINFOS days that was in the Army, Brenden. Jessica was with me and was invited too.

The trip to the aquarium only takes about an hour but was well out of Jessica and mine's price range for the honchos (word over here for taxi's). We were also looking into Marine Corps Community Services (MCCS) trips offered but this gave us something fun to do for cheap.

The aquarium was split up into a few areas on a campus with one main building. I liked the view out to the water even though the weather was a little overcast.

Surprisingly, the tickets were quite cheap. When I went to use the drinking fountain I noticed there was something VERY odd about them. One was for gargling - yes, gargling. Mouthwash came out instead of water. I love the Japanese. After going through the touch-the-sea-creatures beginning portion of the aquarium Jessica and I left them to explore on our own.

Jessica and walked through the halls and saw some really weird fish like the Giant Wrasse that reminded me of Mick Jagger.

We saw different sharks, crabs, fish and other sea creatures along the way to the main attraction - the whale sharks.

Their tank is humungous. According to the Internet the main tank called the 'Kuroshio Sea' holds 7,500-cubic meters (1,981,290 gallons) of water and features the world's largest acrylic glass panel, measuring 8.2 meters by 22.5 meters with a thickness of 60 centimeters. Whale sharks and manta rays are kept amongst many other fish species in the main tank.

There are so many people in the main room they have movie-style seating. It's really quite beautiful to see.

After seeing the whale sharks we attempted to find Castillo and Brenden but we soon gave up and went outside. We saw there was a dolphin show going on but we caught the tail-end of it... literally. When we showed up they were waving everyone goodbye. There would be another show in an hour so we saw what else was around.

We saw their sea turtle exibit. I liked their baby turtles.

We then saw their manatee exibit. The manatee's were given as a gift to Japan by the Mexican government. Their tank was fresh water and was kept warmer than the other tanks to reflect their home environment.

We ate a quick lunch - I'm glad I like noodles. We waitied for the dolphin show in the rain. When they started the rain stopped and I was surprised they were so huge. They wern't your typical dolphins, a different larger species. Their show was really fun. I wanted to swim with them. Sooner or later I will.

Castillo and Brenden were there watching too and we left with them. I had a wonderful time. The last time I was in an aqarium was many many years ago after a family reunion in Chicago. I'm sure in the next 2 years I'll come back for another visit.

Next stop - the arboretum and botanical garden.