European Online Journal of Natural and Social Sciences 2014; www.european-science.

com
Vol.3, No.4 Special Issue on Architecture, Urbanism, and Civil Engineering
ISSN 1805-3602

An Analysis of Architectural Characteristics of an Aquarium from

Bionic Design Approach

Zahra Araghizadeh
Department of Architecture, Kish International Branch, Islamic Azad University, Kish, Iran
Email: araghizade@gmail.com

Abstract
From the very beginning, man has spent so much effort on discovering the nature in this
unknown territory, and to extract art and technology from nature and after realizing its values, reuse
them in different forms and shapes. Therefore, it is necessary for him to make the connection among
machine and living systems. One of the main trends in bionic design is to enliven the building. To
achieve this purpose, direct or curve lines and attributing the integrity to the building are essential
elements for reviving the buildings. Bionic buildings such as aquarium are open to publics in order
to show aquatic organism. Majority of public aquariums contain different species. After world’s
creation, nature, itself, has turned into a good source of inspiration for designers and architects and
during this time, plants and animals could cope with environmental issues through decoration and
designing. They have also been trying to be inspired by nature and its surroundings for making
needed equipment.
Keywords: aquarium, bionic, form, function

Introduction
Bionic facilities such as public aquariums are aimed to be used as recreational and
entertainment centers. Places like aquarium, museums and can attract visitors’ attention. For an
example, some of the aquariums such as Monterey aquarium have low depth tank, filled with the
variety of fish that can be felt and seen while people passing the tank.

Figure 1. Monterey aquarium

Aquariums such as zoos have research centers that help staffs study biology and fish
behavior. In recent years, huge aquariums have intended to provide ocean fish and even crystal jelly
for the tanks. It seems to be a difficult task as these creatures have never faced with a solid surface
such as tank walls and instinctly they go through the walls rather than passing them. Therefore,
bionic shapes can help designer create a real world. Nowadays, there are so many aquariums around
the world, built based on bionic principles to prepare a comfortable atmosphere for its creatures. It
has been a while that simple, solid and lifeless cubes as an aquarium cannot be a good model for
contemporary architecture.
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Bionic is an interdisciplinary field and it gathers designers, psychologists, environmentalist

and engineers. Bionic is not restricted to a specific field and it can be expanded broadly. It analyzes
a living mechanism in a way that can be applied in other man-made equipment. If bionic intends to
collect information from diverse fields, it needs to define a new language in order to help different
fields with understanding the potential environment and nature.

Literature Review
The world “bionic”, used firstly by Jack E. Steele (January 27, 1924—January 19, 2009) an
American and retired US Air Force colonel. He coined the world bionic for the systems with a living
creature or its characteristics. Bionic has consisted of two words biology and technique, meaning to
apply biological solutions for the engineering issues. (Hamoule Shalali. 2013, 16)
Bionic is the essence and foundation of all living microorganisms but by more attention, any
industrial phenomenon and building are inspired by the nature. Now, bionic is playing an important
role for applying biological systems in technical issues. The combination of two worlds’ biology and
technique introduce bionic design as a science that can be useful for solving technical issues (Rajabi
Fard, 2008)

Bionic Architecture
From the very first, human being was inspired by nature and environment. For example,
Leonardo da Vinci, was stimulated by the body of bats in order to make flying machine and the
high-speed dolphins were good sources for submarine and even spider’s web was applied for
Montreal expo by Frei Otto, the German architect (URL : 35).

A design for a flying machine Dance of dolphins Expo 67

Figure 2. Sample of Bionic Architecture

Sometimes architecture is an artificial life, a science, taking place based on genetic and
biological principles. Bionic and organic concepts were one of the major trends in twenty century
and can been seen in works of le Corbusier, Wright and Sullivan.
Nature eliminates whatever is not adaptable and it can help human being study the process of
evolution, copy the new microorganism and apply them into industry. Bionic architecture denies
regulated and traditional forms. As a result, bionic encourages biological and mathematical
buildings (Rajabifar. 2009,94).
When animals are analyzed, it is often difficult to extract them into micro and macro details.
Even if, we fulfill this aim, it is not possible to examine animals because any creature has limited
needs. For instance, its temperature does not change. Apart from this, a system of a living creature is
very complicated. To tell more, in human being eyes, there are more than ten million cells in cornea
that are connected to brain by nerve fibers. Brain has millions of these cells itself and it is going to
be very sophisticated if scientists once spend time on analyzing this system.

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 Zahra Araghizadeh

Some scholars presents bionic as three important branches of science. In fact, there are
important factors in the nature and human being use them wisely such as shell, structure, decoration,
and energy
Bionic has created some interdisciplinary fields such as morphology (the scientific study of
the structure and form of either animals and plants or words and phrases), biomorphic (Bio-
morphism creating artistic artifacts based on naturally occurring patterns or shapes of nature and
living organisms. Taken to its extreme, it attempts to force naturally occurring shapes onto
functional devices.), bio design (Bio-Design is the integration of design with biological systems,
often to achieve better ecological performance.) and organic (not using artificial chemicals in the
growing of plants and animals for food and other products)
Furthermore, Bionic has three components:
1- The science of systems that has been inspired by micro-organisms (main structure)
2- The science of systems that have similar characteristics to micro-organisms
(mechanism)
3- The science of systems that are resemble micro-organisms.(sensory reception)
In fact, the three main elements have structure, mechanism and form and functional relation
with form and material are followed as below:
Color Analysis
Color is categorized by nerve cells in cornea. It seems that cells behaviors toward colors are
exactly cells behavioral to shapes. All living creature can perceive colors but apparently just human
being and monkeys can perceive all detailed changes in colors.
x The relationship between living creature’s color and environment
x The relationship between living creatures’ with behavioral feature and color
x The relationship between living creature‘s color and its body
An analysis of main elements of living creature and its usage in design
Form Analysis
An advanced construction can help us design anything that designers conceive. Our access to
tools and, of course, technology had made complicated forms created easier but the question is
whether these forms are following functions or vice versa. Structural specialists claim that form
should be given the second priority as structure is an essential element while formalists believe that
the progress in technology leads up to different and diverse form and as a result the beauty had
become an important part of each form. However, it is necessary for us to know that form and
function in bionic are closely related with each other and what seems important is how to connect
these two key elements parallel.
x Basic form: points, faces
x Complicated forms:
x Formal combination
x Determination of proportions and dimensions
x Determination of the effects of curviness
x Determination of angles among lines
Analysis of Mechanism
The exact imitation is not a simple task. For instance Clement Ader (Clément Ader (2 April
1841 – 5 March 1925) was a French inventor and engineer was inspired by bat but he could not copy
the exact mechanism. He was a great thinker and decided to study on birds’ flight for a long time.
He observed flying and convinced himself that there is no way for moving the machine’s wings. He
also realized that changing scale can drive him to a big failure and as a result he came up with using
Openly accessible at http://www.european-science.com 3
Special Issue on Architecture, Urbanism, and Civil Engineering

propeller. The same strategy should be applied in bionic. The exact imitation is not what we are
looking in the nature but awareness of the mechanism and its function is the a key element
x Simple mechanism
x Systematic relationship among mechanism
x Analysis of relationship among form with system and in reverse with form
x Analysis of relationship between form and function and vice versa
x Analysis on relationship between form and function and vice versa
x Analysis of relationship between systems and function and vice versa
The procedure of bionic design is as follows:
x Choosing living animals
x Recognition of behavioral inhabitant
Recognizing architectural features
In order to recognize architectural features, there are two main features:
x Internal features
x Systematic relationship
x Main physical body: micro elements and geometrical proportions, micro elements,
material (Hamoule shalali, 2013, 25)
Bionic Architecture in Aquarium
Two decades ago, with increasing power in technology, Greg Lynn could ascribe new
features to architecture. Their tools were new generation of computers that make them able to create
mathematically complicated forms, non-geometrical forms and stimulation of micro-organism. Lynn
is pioneer of giving a creative role to computer. Computer helps designers create new forms.
One of the famous works of him is Embryological House. In this concept, he is dealing with
diversity, flexibility mass production. In this house, geometrical regulations have been defined
perfectly and it proves that proportion, aesthetic, functions in its classic definition are valuable. Not
only, does Embryological House influence by preliminary data, also it adapts itself with common
local style, climatic condition and material. (Rajabifar, 2009, 97)

Figure 3. Embryological House

If a creature can adapt itself with different climatic conditions, new and different diets and
even physical structures can be established, why cannot architecture do it?

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 Zahra Araghizadeh

Pioneers of bionic architecture

Leonardo da Vinci was one of the well-known architects who started discovering animals’
structures. Charlie Luxton opened new windows toward the nature and helped us with understanding
the quality of engineering system of the nature. Jan Kaplický has designed the form of The
Selfridges Building in the Bull Ring in Birmingham. This building consisted of external and internal
shells. The external shells have 15000 aluminum discs. The holes on exterior surface have the
minimum holes and are similar to Commercial building in (Selfridges)

Figure 4. A sample of external and internal shells

Aquarium from Bionic approach

Public aquariums are public places with small tanks or bigger ones that can keep aquatic
specious safe. After decades, aquariums have changed significantly in such a way that visitors can
be an important part of space.

Table 1. The comparison between old and new aquarium

New models of aquarium (bionic based) Old models of aquarium (none bionic based)
Visitors are part of nature visitors are seeing nature
Active visitors Passive visitors
Discovery learning Educational method
ecosystem Natural inhabitant
Related galleries Discontinued spaces
flexible Fixed
From noisy spaces to silence Noisy
Calling for action Accidental
Continuous exchange Experimental
Related institute Detached exhibition

Public aquarium has increased their functions and they are not just for displaying aquatic
creature. But, they have educational purposes rather than entertainment. Bionic design can create
this opportunity for visitors to perceive the vision, movement, group habit, behavior of aquatic
creature.

Conclusion
Bionic design was born since the human beings’ life and for centuries is the main source of
inspiration for mankind. Nowadays, from the warmest to the coldest part, the trace of bionic design
can be tracked down Bionic designed aquarium is known as artificial life.
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Special Issue on Architecture, Urbanism, and Civil Engineering

Any kind of proper architecture that has been based on strong theory remains as scheme or a
model.
However, for producing some themes such as aquarium, designers should consider the
unique nature of these models according to the real model in the nature. As sometimes, making
aquariums are complicated and they need high-technology,it is hard to artistically evaluate the
innovation and creativity from technology.
Therefore, bionic design at the beginning was in the grip of new style-fever and was not
popularized but when first steps were taken strongly, it came as a surprise that nature is a pure and
intact source of inspiration.
Bionic is a science of some systems that are similar to living systems and in another word
imitation is the first step for discover the nature. In this field, systems have resemblance to living
creature with respect to evolutions. Life does pause and it goes on in any stage. But, the assessment
and evaluation of the nature is the key responsibility of the designer as he is supposed to ask himself
weather this way can advance or it should return the beginning step.

References
Astachenkov, P.T. (2008). What is bionic, military publication of the USSR Ministry of defense,
Moscow.
Bernard,E.E., & Kare, M.R. (1962). Biological prototype and synthetic systems. proceedings of the
second annual bionic symposium, Plenum Press, New York.
Bionic Issue of IEEE Transactions on Militery Electronics (1963). Account of the third symposium
of bionics.
Bionic Symposium, (1960).Living prototype-the key to new technology,, WADD Technical Report.
Karplus, W.J. (1958). Analog Simulation, McGraw-Hill, New York.
Krayzmar, L.P. (2010). Bionics, OTS report of the US Department of Commerce.
Miller, G. (1865). Living Systems: Basic Concepts.
Shannon, C.E. (1948).The mathematical theory of communication, Bell Syst tech.
Yagolam, A.M. (2002). Probabilite et information, Dunod.

Openly accessible at http://www.european-science.com 6

Marine Research Institute and Public Aquarium

Sadat Hamid
06108017
Department of Architecture
BRAC University
 ABSTRACT
The site chosen for the Marine Research Intitute and Aquarium is in Cox’s
Bazaar, one of the prime tourist locations in our country. The project was
envisioned as bringing new life to the waterfront area in which the site is located
as well as providing a point of interest for the entire region itself. The lack of
awareness regarding marine ecosystems even in professional sectors is a huge
gap which remains due to the lack of resources and opportunity to further our
knowledge of the Bay of Bengal. The site was choosen for its close proximity to
the ocean due to the large supply of water that is required to maintain the
Aquarium exhibits. The project was segregated into two sections, an
administrative and research oriented section that was closed to the public and an
exhibition space that was accessible to the general public. Case studies were
carried out and the “Ozeaneum”, a German Oceanographic Museum was chosen
tas the overseas case study. The Ozeaneum was selected because of its strong
formal expression and relation to context. “Modern Hatchery” is a local project
that was chosen for the case study.

Keywords: Marine Ecosystem, Research Institute, Aquarium, Public space,

Cox’s Bazaar
Acknowledgement
I would like to take this opportunity to thank my teachers Ms. Rubaiya
Sultana and Ms. Rabeya Rahman. Dr. Zainab Faruqi Ali, Ehsan Khan, Sajjad
Hossain and Shakil Ahmed Shimul for helping me throughout the thesis, as well
as all the members of the faculty of the Department of Architecture.

I would like to thank my family and friends for their support and inspiration

throughout these years. All of this is possible because of your continued support
 Hamid 1

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 Introduction
The stretch of beach area in Cox’s Bazaar is the longest uninterrupted sea
beach in the world(120 km). It is an important tourist spot in the country with a
steady influx of tourists visiting every year. The beaches with rolling green hills as
their backdrop provides a picturesque setting for a tourist spot and the Marine
Research Institute and Aquarium is designed to renew interest that was waning
in a zone of the beach that had fallen into neglect.
1.2 Background of the project
The project was until recently under the supervision of Chittagong
Development Authority. However, due to increased budget constraints and other
limitations, the project was ultimately abandoned.

1.3 Reasons for choosing the site

The site for the institute is towards the North-west of the main town. It is
near the Cox’s Bazaar Airport and located near the beach at a distance of 1600
feet from the high water line. There is a hatchery to the south and a canal and
Cox’s bazaar airport to the east. The total site area is 18.5 acres. The site was
chosen for several reasons. Primarily it was the location close to the waterfront
that would be ideal for providing a fresh supply of water necessary for the
aquarium exhibits. The other factor were that it was already situated at a tourist
location albeit one that had seen more use in the past. The fact that the site was
in a state of neglect was another factor as the plans for the revitalization of the
area due to the inception of the project became a part of the project aim. The
beach near the proposed site is still in a very good condition for use. The creation
of an important public building such as the Research Institute and Aquarium
might result in an extension of the waterfront that is used.. The proximity of the
site to the airport allows great tourist potential for the Research Institute and
Aquarium. The presence of a road between the beach and the site provides
strong access into the site.
 Hamid 2

1.3 Reasons for choosing Program

The following list shows the program chosen for the project:
Aquarium
x Exhibition Spaces

x Scientists’ Room

x Photography

x Machine Room

x Lobby

x Administrative and Maintenance
Section Restaurant

Research Institute

x Administration

x Research Laboratories

x Library

x Hatchery
The Aquarium is accessible to the public and the research and administration
zones are closed off to the general public. The restaurant remains the common
ground between the two zones. The Bay of Bengal see’s its ecosystems natural
way of being endangered as pollution and over-fishing are beginning to take their
toll on the inhabitants of the Bay. The research material regarding the fresh water
fishes of Bangladesh is quite extensive in stark comparison to the almost non-
existent amount of data regarding the Marine sector of our country’s waters.
The program was created in order to provide the general public with an
opportunity to educate themselves regarding the rare and endangered species
that live in the Bay of Bengal as well as the dangers that they face. The
restaurant and the outdoor dolphin park were created as supporting elements for
the indoor exhibition spaces.
The program for the research institute was planned according to the needs of the
labs.
 Hamid 3

CHAPTER 2: SITE APPRAISAL

2.1 Environmental Considerations

At the initial stage, the site was studied in detail taking the environmental
issues into consideration. The surrounding structures were studied as well as the
topography of the land. Meteorological reports considering wind speeds and
flooding levels were collected. The co-ordinates of the site are 21° 27’ 18”N, 91°
57’ 58”E.

2.1.1 Site and surrounding plans

The site is oriented with the longer side facing west towards the Bay of
Bengal. A road of width 20’ separates the site from the beach. The road was
used to provide access at two points into the site. One of these points was
reserved for access to the public zone whereas the other was used to provide
entry to the administrative/research zone which was restricted to the public. As
access towards the site from the Cox’s Bazaar city is from the south, it was
decided that the public functions would be placed in that portion of the site. The
research institute would be placed in the northern portion due to light conditions
being more favorable.
 Hamid 8

3.1 Marine Research Institute and Aquarium

The marine research institute is an organization dedicated to furthering the

knowledge of the oceans of our world and the organisms that inhabit them. It is in
these labs that the knowledge of the oceans is analyzed and the new findings are
discovered.
The public aquarium as been quite popular among the general populace
since the inception of the first public aquariums and remain popular to this day. It
would be a safe bet to say that public aquariums not only educate the public and
plant seeds of interest within them but they are also capable of generating
revenue.

3.2 The objective of the Marine Research Institute and Aquarium

The main goal of the project is to further the knowledge of the oceans by
providing the research facilities and equipment that are lacking in this area of
research in Bangladesh. The lack of general awareness as to the situation of the
Bay of Bengal regarding over-fishing and pollution is staggering and immediate
steps must be taken to remedy the situation unless something irreversible might
occur. The goal to educate the public was set up to be undertaken by the
exhibition spaces containing the live exhibits as well as museum displays of
fossilized remains. The public zone which is accessible to the public therefore
performs a dual task of educating and as well as generating revenue.
 Source: Behnisch Architekten,2010

Design

Behnisch Architekten’s German Oceanographic Museum “Ozeaneum” is an

open structure flooded from all sides by light, similar to the way stones in the
sea near the water’s edge are flooded by the surrounding water. The museum’s
particular shape and prominent location on the promenade make it an
attractive and memorable feature in Stralsund’s urban silhouette and city
image.

The building comprises four major exhibition sections. This arrangement

assures the successful integration of Ozeaneum into the surrounding historic
architecture. The height of new structures responds to that of existing
buildings. New structures were aligned with neighboring buildings either by
staggering the surface area of some upper stories, or, wherever technically
feasible, by flattening them.
5.1 Concept:

The concept behind the project was the search of knowledge, the search
to discover more about the ocean which may be argued as the point from where
life originated. So essentially it becomes a search for the origins from whence we
came. The ocean was set as the stage and form and function followed, being set
up in a manner fluid and organic reflecting the way of the ocean. Striving to be as
smooth and streamlined as the exhibits themselves, the design seeks to envoke
some of the smoothness and the flow of the ocean and its currents.

Fig 10: Conceptual drawing

Source: Hamid,2010
 International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies 2014; 2(3): 01-04
ISSN: 2347-5129
IJFAS 2014; 2(3): 01-04
© 2013 IJFAS
www.fisheriesjournal.com
Received: 07-11-2014
Accepted: 5-1-2014
B.B. Ngueku
Department of Forestry, Wildlife
and Fisheries, Nasarawa State
University, PMB 1022, Keffi,
Nasarawa State, Nigeria.
Correspondence
B.B. Ngueku
Department of Forestry, Wildlife
and Fisheries, Nasarawa State
University, PMB 1022, Keffi,
Nasarawa State, Nigeria.
The design and construction of Aquaria
B.B. Ngueku
Abstract
This paper discusses the design and construction of aquaria, pointing out that finance, size/weight,
shape/position and materials are basic architectural facts to consider in aquaria building. The industry of
ornamental fisheries has provided the government and individuals of many countries entertainment,
employment, income and health benefits. Thus, concludes that despite the problem of finance, space and
maintenance encountered by hobbyists, specialists and teams, it awareness and exploitation should be
encouraged considering the opportunities that lie in exploiting the niche.
Keywords: Aquaria, Finance, Size, Material, Maintenance, Ornamental fishes
1. Introduction
The Aquarium is an artificial pool for keeping life aquatic animals and plants for ornamental,
research and breeding purposes. The idea of keeping fish in glass aquariums originated after
300 BC when glass was invented. During the Ming dynasty (1368 - 1643), the Chinese were
entertained with goldfishes kept in earthen and glass vessels. In 1833 it was demonstrated by
the British Association for the Advancement of Science that aquatic plants absorbed carbon
dioxides and emitted oxygen thereby benefiting the fish which led to the development of
modern-style aquaria. Today, many homes and public arenas have aquaria made not only of
glass but also of Perspex or Plexiglas [1]. The inventions of heaters and thermostats, aerators
and biodisc have allowed more exotic fishes to be kept. The aquarium also has in it gravel,
sand and rocks, which provide an artificial favorable environment to aid fish and plants
survival as well add to the aquarium scenic beauty of environment.
A 18 gallon rectangular tank aquarium of size 60 x 30 x 38 cm is the most suitable size for
home [2]. The building of aquaria either for ornamental, research and breeding purposes has
provided many beneficial values, and today, without a professional’s touch, many have been
able to create and manage their own aquaria and earn from it like the entertainment industry
have done. Today the design and construction of aquaria has to do with the building of aquaria
of high safety and economic values with quality materials in accordance with recognized
standards and individual taste.
2. Types of Aquarium
a. Home aquaria: They are generally made for keeping small sized indigenous or exotic
fishes for decorative purposes in offices, hotels, shops, etc. when they are constructed in
schools or colleges their main purpose is for study or research.
b. Public Aquaria: They are created in places of public exhibition and they have an advantage
of affording the space for many larger and more exotic species. They add to the aesthetic and
entertainment value of these places.
2.1 Major Aquarium Accessories
a. Composts: An aquarium composts is the gravel (small stones and pebbles or a mixture of
these with sand) placed at the bottom of the tank in which plants can be grown. If a
decorative aquarium is to be set up the composts used should be that which is generally
available with the aquarium dealer. Composts must be washed well before use.
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International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies

b. Lighting arrangement: The light bulb(s) of about 25w xix. X-Ray fish (Pristella sp.)
(240v) are fixed attached to the cover of the aquarium. xx. Tilapia (Tilapia mossambica)
The bulb (s) are either ‘clear’ or ‘pearl’. The fluorescent (Source: Esther, 1998. Pandey and Shukla, 2005) [3, 4].
tube can also be used in preference to ordinary light bulbs.
c. Thermometers: The Thermometer of aquarium water is b. Aquarium Plants
very important especially for tropical fishes. Aquarium Aquarium plants add science beauty and oxygen availability in
fishes need optimum temperature to prevent biological the aquarium.
oxygen demand and susceptibility to diseases. The
Thermometer is magnate to the glass surface inside the 1. Rooted:
aquarium and can be read through the transparent glass or i. Vallisneria spiralis
Perspex. ii. Hydrilla sp.
d. Heater-stats (Heaters with thermostats): in a tropical iii. Potamogeton sp.
aquarium the temperature should be maintained within the iv. Cryptocoryne sp.
range of 65 °F-85 °F (18-29 °C) depending upon the v. Sagittaria sp.
species. A heater aids in controlling the temperature of the
aquarium by raising it to the desired temperature range, 2. Submerged Floating:
regulated by its thermostat. This instrument is partly i. Ceratophyllum sp.
submerged or fully immersed in the aquarium. ii. Myriophyllum sp.
e. Air pumps: The aquarium air pump is made up of air iii. Limnophila sp.
tubes and joints, controller and a power source. Air pumps iv. Hygrophila sp.
are used in aquarium to force air into the tank (aeration). v. Cabomba sp.
Air is forced by the means of a small-size hose through a
small porous stone (diffuser). The steam of bubbles 3. Free Floating:
formed agitates the surface of the tank-water allowing i. Lemna sp.
better exchange of carbon dioxide and oxygen, through ii. Pistia sp.
the entire system. iii. Salvinia sp.
f. Aquarium covers: They are used to prevent fishes from iv. Riccia sp.
jumping out, keep out dust, reduce heat loss and (Source: Gupta and Gupta, 2006) [2]
evaporation and hold light bulbs or tube; it may take the
form of a plain glass sheet, plywood or metal-hood. c. Food Items
g. Filters: Filters the magic jet power filter is used to Examples of food items in the aquarium are:
maintain good quality water in an aquarium. This device Ͳ Tubifex (Blood worm)
filters water mechanically, chemical and biologically. Ͳ Daphnia (Water flea)
Other types of filters commonly used by aquarist are: Box Ͳ Cyclops (One – eyed giant)
filters, sponge/foam filters, under gravel filters and Ͳ Chironomus sp.
reverse flow filters. Ͳ Mosquito larva
Ͳ Phytoplankton
2.2 Aquarium Contents Ͳ Algae
a. Aquarium Fishes: Generally aquarium fishes are small- Ͳ Plants, etc.
sized and brightly colored with characteristic Makings,
bands, spots etc. most of them are hardy and can survive However, of great use to aquarist are the commercially
and breed well in the Confinement, while others are prepared dried foods. E.g. the pelleted maintenance ration and
delicate and require proper attention and care. They are the lump holiday feed.
Beautiful, attractive and entertaining by nature. There are other aquaria contents that are created artificially
that can also be added to the aquarium to increase it scenic
Examples of some aquarium fishes beauty e.g. plastic plants, nutty boy, house wheel, toy fish,
i. Gold fish (Carassius auratus) shell, tortoise, hungry duck, toy frogs, etc. and can be
ii. Guppy (Poecilia reticulate) purchased from an aquarium dealer.
iii. Tiger Barb (Barbus tetrazona)
iv. Gourami (Colisa sp.) 3. The Basics of Aquarium Designing
v. Siamese fighting fish (Betta splendens) An aquarium system cannot be constructed or operated better
vi. Baluari (Nemacheilus aureus) than its initial design. In designing, you find out, gather
vii. Bitterling (Rhodeus sp.) information, ruminate and discern all facts, ideas, methods and
viii. Minnows or Carps [Koi] (Cyprinus carpio) attitudes as to utilize the most appropriate, best available
ix. Zebra fish (Brachydanio rerio) materials and technology. In designing you aim aesthetically
x. Angel fish (Pterophyllum scalare) and functionally the sights and sounds from your aquarium
xi. Mosquitoes- fish (Gambusia sp.) and the basic facts to consider in aquarium designing are:
xii. Harlequin fish (Rasbora heteromorpha)
xiii. Beacon fish (Hemigrammus sp.) 3.1 Finance: Cost considerations for construction and
xiv. Argentine pearlfish (Cynolebias nigripinnis) maintenance should be part of your design plan.
xv. Swordtail (Xiphophorus helleri)
xvi. Black molly (Poecilia mexicana) 3.2 Size and Weight: Size is determined by the intended site
xvii. Snake-head [Murrels] (Channa gachua) and weight which cannot be overlooked as it entails the type of
xviii. Jewel fish (Hemichromis sp.) stand to be constructed.
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International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies

According to Esther (1998) in choosing aquarium size, the fish
requirements should be considered as there are some fishes
which live in small pools and are much more at home in
aquariums of about 30cm wide. Standard aquarium sizes
usually range from 18” x 10” x 10” (45 x 25 x 25 cm), 60 x 30
x 30 cm (Pandey and Shukla, 2005. Esther, 1998) [4, 3].
Table 1: Some standard aquarium sizes approximate furnished
volume and weight of water and glass thickness.
Aquarium
size
Volume
(In
inches)
Glass
Imperial
S/N Length Width Depth thickness
gallons
(mm)
1 18 10 10 6 4
2 24 12 12 12
3 36 12 15 20
4 48 12 15 30
5 60 18 18 70 12(minimum)
6 72 18 18 80 15(minimum)
(Sources: Pandey and Shukla, 2005) [4]
3.3 Shape and Position: Originally, there were only the
rectangular aquariums but today there are unlimited numbers
of possible shapes: square, triangle, column-shaped, pyramid-
shaped, etc. and not every fish can be kept in every type of
aquarium.
The position where the aquarium is to be kept is of importance
as certain fish species will not tolerate the slamming of doors.
The aquarium should be kept in a decorative and safe position,
away from direct sunlight to avoid algal bloom.
3.4 Material: The material mostly used is glass and is a better
investment than the plastic tank as it last longer. The plastic is
easily damaged, removing algae from the sides with razor
blade or soft scourer always leaves ugly scratches. The E.W.
Scripps DIY custom Aquarium Company in US recommends a
glass with 3.8 safety factor. But, many DIYers thought that is a
bit of overkill and recommends that to economize on
construction, a glass of 2.92 safety factor can be used to
achieve the same results. You can increase the safety factor of
your glass tank by bracing it and using a stand that fully
support the entire tank bottom using a Styrofoam or
polystyrene pad between the aquarium tank and stand.
However, the quality of glass is determined by individual
manufacturer’s method and technique of producing the glass.
Tested sample of uniform manufacture have indicated that the
tensile strength runs from 19.3 to 28.4MPa (Scripps DIY
Networks, 2006) [5].
4. Aquaria Construction, Management and Benefits
4.1 Basic considerations in Aquaria construction
- Ensure accurate measurements
- Prepare the glass or plastic material
- Use the right adhesive and apply it correctly
- Install the glass so as to have continuous, bubble-free seams.
4.2 Procedure for constructing an aquaria tank
Materials: Glass, Hanger, adhesive (silicone gum), masking or
duct tape
Steps to follow:
- Put your prepared glass pieces on a flat surface
- Collect one of the glass panes for the base and set it on a
flat table and the other four (4) pieces place adjacent at
sides
- Apply a bead of the adhesive round the edges of the
bottom panel and at two side edges of the front and back
panel with the aid of the hanger
- Run a continuous 1/4 inch bead with no gaps or bubbles
Install the back glass panel on the bottom and the side
panels are fixed inside the back and front panels.
- When all the panels have been set in place the silicone is
smoothed out with the tip of your finger and the panel
supported at the corners with a masking tape. Thus, the
aquarium is constructed such that the two end pieces of
glass fit inside of the back and front panes and the front,
back and two side panes set on top of the bottom base
pane of glass. The best bonding results are achieved by
applying only as much silicone as you can within 3 to 5
6 minutes, because after this, the silicone tends to skin over
10 and won’t bond well to the glass.
12
4.3 Installing the aquarium tank
Steps to take:
- After testing for leakages, wipe out the tank using a clean,
damp cloth and place it on it stand
- Cover the bottom with a layer of clean sand (about 2.5 cm
thick)
- Add the aquarium gravel and smooth it out with the air
wall tubes and hose covered
- Add various rocks on the bottom which enhance the
aquarium and also give fish a place to hide
- Add the water by placing a small bowl on the gravel and
pour the water into the bowl. Let it run over the sides,
filling the tank without disturbing the gravel or rocks
- When the aquarium is full. Test the water with pH meter
before adding live aquarium plants and fishes
- Float the fishes, which are still in oxygenated water-bags
or containers from the store into the tanks
- Put the cover in place to prevent the fish from jumping
out.
4.4 Management of Aquaria
a. Materials used for maintaining an aquarium:
Aquaria cover, light tubes, starter units, heaters and
thermostats, air pumps, diffuser stones, filters, filter media,
nets, scrapers/algae cleaner, spot cleaners, feeding ring, water
testing kits, planting sticks, siphon tube, thermometer,
aquarium glass cleaner, etc.
b. Aquarium Maintenance
- Feed morning and evening.
- Look for signs of illness.
- Check breeding behavior.
- Check water condition e.g. pH, temperature and alter
accordingly
- Check and clean some of the aquarium accessories.
- Avoid over feeding to prevent disease occurrence.
- All unhealthy fishes noticed with disease signs should be
collected for diagnose and treatment. Healthy fishes are
fishes that feed well, and are active. Their eyes are bright
and their gills pink. There are no skeletal deformities and
the body cavity of the fish is not swollen or the belly
hollow [2].
~3~
 
International Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Studies

4.5 Benefits of Aquaria
- The aquarium is a source of employment and income for
individuals/companies of different countries involved with
it design, construction and distribution.
- Some aquaria fishes aid in the environment control of
mosquitoes.
- It is used for research and decorative purposes as it aid
study and add to scenic beauty of environment.
- Aquarium viewing certainly reduces stress and
subsequently lowers blood pressure as well aid in
controlling Alzheimer’s disease as shown by a study in
the 80’s and a Purdue study in 2009.

5. Conclusion
Aquaria design and construction require expertise which few
teams around the world are trying to provide. It has evolved
into a niche industry of international recognition and standard
though provided by those few teams involved. You can
purchased or create your own aquatic garden with the basic
knowledge of aquaria design, construction and proper
management of the system.
Despite the difficulties of finance, space and maintenance
involved, this industry serve as a source of employment and
revenue to both the government of different countries and
individuals/teams occupying this niche.

6. Recommendation
The government, private organizations and research
institutions should collaborate to create aquarium awareness
considering the benefits it can offer.

7. References
1. Kutz M. Handbook of material Selection. John Wiley &
Sons, 431, 2002.
2. Gupta SK, Gupta PC. General and Applied Ichthyology.
Schand Publishers, New Delhi, 2006, 504-519.
3. Esther JJV. Encyclopedia of Tropical Fish. Edn 2, Rebo
Productions Ltd. The Netherlands, 1998.
4. Pandy K, Shukla JP. Fish and fisheries. National Offset
Printers, Meerut 2005, 461-473.
5. Scripps EW. DIY Networks Aquariums Co. Ltd.
Tennessee, USA DIYnet.com 2006.

~4~
 Global NEST Journal, Vol 13, No 4, pp 369-384, 2011
Copyright© 2011 Global NEST
Printed in Greece. All rights reserved

ORGANIZING A PUBLIC AQUARIUM: OBJECTIVES,

DESIGN, OPERATION AND MISSIONS. A REVIEW

M. KARYDIS* Department of Marine Sciences

University of the Aegean
GR-81100, Mytilene, Greece

Received: 24/12/09 *to whom all correspondence should be addressed:

Accepted: 03/11/11 e-mail: mkar@aegean.gr

ABSTRACT
Many Public Aquaria have been designed and constructed all over the world during the last three
decades. The serial arrangement of relatively small, rectangular, concrete tanks has been replaced
by fewer large, irregularly shaped tanks, replicating habitats. The “taxonomic concept” of displaying
specimens in the old aquaria has now been succeeded by the more ecological, “community concept”
type of display. At the same time most of the “old aquaria” have been renovated. Aquarium missions
have also been broadened nowadays including research, conservation and education. Aquaria are
ideal places for research on husbandry, life cycles, reproduction, behavior, autoecology and fish
pathology. Collaboration with Universities and Research Centers increases the research potential in
scientific disciplines such as ecology, genetics, physiology and biochemistry. Collaboration also
provides mutual benefits in both infrastructure and personnel: The research background in aquaria
also forms a sound platform to materialize conservation projects, focusing either on the ex-situ
conservation of animals in the aquaria or on environmental protection of surrounding areas and re-
introduction of endangered species. In addition to formal educational opportunities, non formal
education to visitors, schools and undergraduates seems to become a major mission of aquaria.
Aquarium tank displays, preserved biological material, film projections, seminars / lectures and book
magazine publications enhance environmental awareness, encouraging people to adopt
Environmentally Responsible Behavior. All these missions are feasible because most public aquaria
are making a good profit mainly due to their high popularity. There are also benefits for the
community in the area; aquaria have enlivened declining water front areas and increased the income
of tourist resorts mainly by “stretching out” the tourist season. In the present work the objectives of a
public aquarium are reviewed and the main infrastructure subsystems and operational procedures
are described; Know how on aquarium systems can also be applied in research laboratories of
academic institutions if live organisms have to be kept for experimentation. Aquarium missions on
research, conservation and education are discussed.
KEYWORDS: Aquarium Design; Environmental Education; Aquarium Systems; Conservation
Projects; Aquarium missions; Aquarium Research; Environmetally Responsible Behavior; Caring for
the Environment.

INTRODUCTION
The history of Public aquaria goes back to 19th century. The concept of display was series of
rectangular, concrete tanks with glass fronts; Fishes and some invertebrates were placed in the
tanks using taxonomic criteria as species taxonomy was then the “bible” among the biological
sciences. The first large public aquarium was opened in the London Zoo in 1853 and was known as
the “Fish House” (Brunner, 2003). The Berlin Public Aquarium was the second large aquarium that
opened in Europe followed by the aquarium of Paris. Meanwhile the interest of the public in aquatic
life showed an upward trend; the New York Aquarium Journal was first published in 1876 and was
considered as the first aquarium magazine. The first Aquarist’s society in the United States was
founded in New York in 1893 followed by many other societies on aquaria and aquatic life.
370 KARYDIS

Nowadays there are many public aquaria in Europe, United States, Canada and the Far East. The
serial rectangular tanks have been replaced by a few large tanks characterized by irregular
geometry where various types of habitats are replicated promoting normal animal behavior (Cains
and Meritt, 1998). Specimen introduction is based on the aquatic community concept highly
influenced by aquatic community ecology concepts.
The development of aquaculture technology during the last three decades has provided to public
aquaria a number of technical solutions (Barnabe, 1989; Huguenin and Colt, 1992), covering almost
all aspects of aquarium construction, aquarium operation and fish husbandry (Goertemiller, 1993).
Modern tank design and structure, new materials, advanced pumping technology, aeration systems,
flow rate control, new systems for water abstraction and water treatment technology are among the
“new weapons” in the hands of aquarium designer’s. Know how on disinfecting drinking water using
ozonation and UV technology has also been transferred to aquaria and used as a routine practice.
Mechanical filters used in swimming pools and aquaculture farms as well as purification methods
based on biological treatment of the used water, have solved water quality problems in aquaria. In
addition, operation practices such as water quality control, artificial lighting, use of chemical
disinfectants, fish feeding techniques, fish pathology know how and reproductive success have
greatly been benefited from aquaculture practices (Landeau, 1992; Pillay and Kutty, 2005)
At the same time the objectives and missions of public aquaria were broadened. The aquarium
environment became the ideal “laboratory” to study animal and plant biology, ecology, animal
behavior, diversity and conservation issues, fish maintenance, fish diseases and fish reproduction.
The tank collections together with the laboratories and other ancillary facilities have formed a
“platform” for the public aquaria to expand their missions to research, environmental education,
diversity and conservation. Research directions in the aquaria derive from the fact that a variety of
aquatic plant and animal species can be kept and studied in a confined location. Public Aquaria are
nowadays aiming at educational objectives at many levels including environmental awareness of the
visiting public, laboratory and technical training of the curatorial and keeper staff, special programs
for schools; training of undergraduate, graduate and postdoctoral students (Evans, 1997). The
contribution of aquaria to marine environmental education is vital since not many members of the
public, experience the marine environment often. Expose of the swimmers to the marine
environment does not contribute significantly to their experience and knowledge since beach areas
are characterized by low diversity.
Recently special emphasis has been given by public aquaria on conservation aspects. It has been
emphasized the role of conservation on stimulating environmental awareness of the visitors since
visitors are more interested in pollution problems rather than in conservation and diversity issues.
Aquaria are also ideal facilities for ex-situ diversity conservation especially after the global interest
on biodiversity conservation and the United Nations convention on Biological Diversity (United
Nations, 1993); The ex-situ keeping of organisms is strongly recommended if all other measures of
conservation have failed or are difficult to apply.
The present work is a review of the basic information for planning, building and operating a public
aquarium. The missions of a modern aquarium concerning expectations – benefits of the visitors,
research, environmental education and conservation of marine life are also discussed.

AQUARIUM OBJECTIVES
The first but more critical step when designing a public aquarium is a clear definition of the
objectives of the aquarium: is it going to cover all aspects of aquarium activities that is visitor’s
recreation, research, education and conservation or some of them?
(a) Recreational activities: what are the target groups for the visitors? Are the visits going to be
combined with environmental awareness (Ballantyne et al., 2008) or the public will be educated by
the “show and tell” practice common in public aquaria? The aquarium is aiming only at individual
visitors or families? Is it also aiming at schools and various societies related to environmental
aspects such as botany, zoology, natural history or aquarium societies? Do they have to plan
specialized facilities not available to the public such as tanks and research laboratories? Is research
going to be carried out in the aquarium premises or is going to include field work? Are research
projects going to be carried out by the aquarium research staff only or collaboration between
ORGANIZING A PUBLIC AQUARIUM 371

aquarium and academic institutions is going to be sought for mutual benefits (Fernadez and
Timberlake, 2008)?
(b) Education: What are the educational goals? Is it going to be a kind of comprehensive guided
tour? Is it going to be only informal education (Price et al., 2009). Alternatively, the aquarium staff
will be involved in more formal educational activities of pupils and students in collaboration with
school authorities and universities in the form of seminars, summer schools, undergraduate
teaching? What about small projects involving experimental work?
(c) Species and biodiversity conservation: what groups of organisms, sources of financing aiming
at, forms and types of collaboration with research centers and local authorities?
The aquarium objectives should be based on: (a) the availability of funds and the present needs (b)
future prospects: the aquarium can focus on recreation at the beginning but expand to other
missions with time (c) planning future needs and (d) combination of (a), (b) and (c). Relative
priorities of the objectives mentioned above can influence design decisions. The aquarium design
and operation should consider missions concerning education, research and conservation not as
fixed but as dynamic processes. Evaluation of research (Kleiman, 1985) and education projects can
provide a useful feedback for further developments of public aquarium future targets.

AQUARIUM DESIGN
Defining requirements
Building design should take into account a number of points. There should be a rather large lobby for
receiving the visitors; it is a usual practice for public aquaria to receive groups of people: school
classes, groups of tourists, visits from universities and visits organized by societies. The entry to the
aquarium display should be slightly delayed for the adaptation of the visitors to the dim light of the
surroundings. Information referring to the exhibits and aquarium activities in the form of posters or
power point projections can keep the visitors occupied while they proceed slowly to the tank display
area. The whole way should be flat for safety reasons. The display area should be viewed on the
“one way” pattern and the exit should lead, if possible, to a small museum or exhibition place
providing additional information mainly through preserved specimens and panels, posters and
computer programs. This supplementary information will also prolong the time spent in the aquarium
building. Eventually the visit should lead to an aquarium shop near the exit. Visitors should not have
any access to aquarium installation, laboratories or other ancillary facilities unless a specific visit has
been arranged, programmed thoroughly and all safety measures have been taken.
Space requirements for pumping facilities, the master tank, the control room, laboratories, storage
place, tanks for fish quarantines and tanks for the reserve fish stock have to be taken into account.
In addition, a small lecture theatre and a reading room are necessary for research and educational
activities. Research laboratories in addition to the laboratories designed for the operation of the
aquarium are needed if research activities are among the aquarium objectives.

Site selection
It is an advantage if a seafront area is chosed. The selection parameters are a tradeoff between high
quality environmental conditions and vicinity to a town that will be the potential source of visitors and
academic activities. The most important factors to the technical aspects of the aquarium as far as
the marine environment is concerned are: (a) high water quality is absolutely necessary for the tank
supply (b) wild populations of desired species in the area, form a good source of living organisms.
Although aquaria tend to import living organisms from all over the world, small aquaria largely rely on
the local marine ecosystem (c) endemic diseases and parasites (d) microbiological populations i.e.
possible pathogens and (e) coastal seawater circulation and wave regime: related to water renewal
as well as to possible resuspension of the sediment in the water abstraction area. The most
important factors concerning the accessibility of the site area are: (a) distance from the nearest city
(b) regular public transport (c) size of school population in the area (d) academic and research
institutions in the area (e) national parks, conservation areas, ongoing plans in the area on
conservation and biodiversity issues.
372 KARYDIS

Sea water abstraction

The quality of the seawater supply to a public aquarium is the “foundation” for good, trouble free and
successful operation of the facility. High marine water quality can be described by a number of
desirable features: (a) very low concentration of suspended matter (b) low microbial load deprived of
pathogens (c) limited presence of fouling organisms (d) absence of water pollutants (sewage,
hydrocarbons, heavy metals etc) and (e) water temperature less than 20°C throughout the year. The
type of water abstraction facility depends very much on the local conditions. As it is expensive both
to install and run, the system is usually a tradeoff between economy and acceptable water quality.
The major technical solution for the water supply is:

Open intake in shallow waters: shallow waters are not the best choice; the water is characterized
by high concentration of suspended matter, fluctuating according to weather conditions (current,
waves). There are also many fouling organisms and the temperature can exceed 20ºC during
summer time. Resuspension of the sediment might enrich the water column with nutrients
(phosphate, nitrite, nitrate, ammonia) and possibly pollutants if the history of the area was connected
with industrial activities. However, technical solutions can be applied to face the problem (Cansdale,
1981): (a) the pipeline can be designed in a flexible way making easy dismantling and cleaning (b)
Installation of a twin system: one of the two systems will be “dormant”. The organisms of the
dormant system will die due to low availability of oxygen; the twin system provides extra security in
case of failure in the operating system. It must be noted that repairs in the water abstraction system
can be a difficult job depending on weather conditions, locally available expertise and specialized
equipment. The site of water abstraction can be chosen after careful consideration of the above
mentioned problems. The site that shows minimal disturbance in the area should be selected; the
intake point should not be near bottom to eliminate input of suspended matter.

Open Intake in Deep Water: This is the best solution as it supplies the aquarium with low
temperature water (below the thermocline), and low concentration of suspended matter while the
inlet is near the facility. This is the case the Bergen Aquarium (Rollefsen, 1962). The Public
Aquarium of Monaco and the Public Aquarium in Rhodes (Greece), operate the same way. The
temperature of the deep water may be lower than the desired temperature under operating
conditions and the same applies for oxygen concentrations. Both shortcomings can be easily
corrected at a low cost.

Seawater Wells: Water abstraction can be performed by opening wells near the shoreline. Although
this is an economical way with limited risk of mechanical failure from storming conditions and there is
easy access to service the installation there are three main shortcomings (a) the temperature can be
high (b) the oxygen concentration low and (c) salinity can be low if there is mixing with the
freshwater horizon. This depends on the local layering that can be complex and therefore the
solution is not always applicable.

Sub-Sand Abstraction: A sub-sand system can solve many of the problems mentioned above (a)
during this process most of the particulate material is removed (b) as the system develops, it
becomes aerobic due to oxygenated water passing through. Hydrogen sulphide and methane
production stops while ammonia is oxidized to nitrate (c) the system is unaffected by surface
pollutants (e.g. oil spillages) and (d) as the whole system can be completely buried is protected from
overheating, damage due to weather conditions and possible vandalisms (Cansdale, 1981). Sub-
sand intake systems can be elaborate structures placed on the sea bed. Systems like those have
been installed a long time ago (Hettler et al., 1971; Kinne, 1976) and they are still working
successfully.

Aquarium Pumps
The pumps are the “heart” of every aquarium system. It is important to select the right type of pump
and the right size. One of the criteria for selecting a pump is the servicing facilities and expertise in
the area. Among many types of pumps used in aquaculture there are two types popular in aquaria:
the centrifugal pump and the displacement pump. As seawater is corrosive, care has to be taken to
select pumps made of material resistant to oxidation: stainless steel pumps, pumps made of
ORGANIZING A PUBLIC AQUARIUM 373

polymers and pumps with rubber parts seem to suit all service conditions. The design of a centrifugal
pump is rather simple: there is a pump chamber and a fast rotating impeller in it. The water is
running into the pipes under the centrifugal force applied by the impeller. The main advantage of this
kind of pump is lack of wear under normal aquarium conditions and proper service. Suspended
matter will also damage the impeller. Priming should be avoided and therefore the pump should be
placed below the sea level (working then as a suction pump), otherwise a foot valve should be fitted
at the intake point. Alternatively, a priming tank can be installed in the piping system.
Displacement pumps operate by moving water through the pump in discrete quantities using a rotor
having the shape of an eccentric cam, or a screw type rotor or a spirally shaped rotor. In this type of
pump the rotor is generally of stainless steel whereas the inner part of the stator is made of rubber.
Displacement pumps are self-primed and deliver fixed volume of liquid to the system. Small
organisms have a better chance to survive through a displacement pump and this can be an
advantage if the planktonic community should be kept alive especially in re-circulating systems. The
housing for types of pumps should be kept as dry as possible for the good maintenance and long life
of the equipment. Another type of pump not very often used in aquaria is the submersible pump.
Being in the water is self primed but most of them suffer from electrolysis which gradually
deteriorates the casing and the impeller (Hawkins, 1981; Huguenin and Colt, 1992).

Piping and Valves

Among a wide variety of materials used for aquarium piping the most commonly used are the
unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (uPVC) and the acrylonirile butadiene styrene or ABS (Hawkins,
1981). They are both strong, easy to mount, low toxicity and not corrosive materials. Due to smooth
bore resistance, flow is kept to a minimum. However, care has to be taken to prefilter the water so as
to prevent fouling. A twin pipeline system can also be useful in the antifouling “combat”. It is
important not to glue pieces together but to join them using either “O” rings or threaded fitting. The
same applies for valves, meters, pressure gauges and other fittings along the pipeline. Easy
dismantling is important for replacements and general maintenance.
The valves used in the aquarium piping systems are mainly ball valves, but also diaphragm, butterfly
and needle valves are used. When ball valves open allow full bore flow but the flow control is difficult
to be achieved. Needle valves are the best for flow control but show the highest resistance to flow.
Non return and foot valves in the system are necessary to avoid line draining should cessation of
pumping occur.

Tanks
The Master Tank: A master tank (also known as the head tank) is a necessary component of every
aquarium water system as it serves a number of functions. The master tank being the general
distributor of the system is placed higher than the display tanks and the tanks for research to provide
gravity flow. This way it functions as a transition zone between pump supply and demand, smoothing
out any irregularities in water demand. Irregular demand may be due to cleaning or refilling
procedures. Irregular supply may be due to pump failure, pump service, pipeline servicing or
provisionally unsuitable water quality due to storms (intense resuspension of the sediment). If the
residence time is more than an hour the head tank can act as sedimentation chamber. However,
master tanks cannot act as temperature regulators. The high specific heat capacity of the water in
combination with the limited residence time does not allow temperature conditioning. It advisable
that master tanks must be roomy as well as easily and safely accessible by the staff for installing
and servicing heating elements, filters, meters and other pieces of equipment.

Display tanks: The tendency nowadays is to get away from the box shaped tanks used for display
purposes. The modern idea is to replicate a particular ecosystem in each tank. This ecosystemic
approach requires tanks with water capacity a few dozen cubic meters or even bigger. In this
“aquarium ecosystem” the wall effect is undesirable. If the sides of the tank have a 45º slope,
forming a trapezoidal shape they are not visible by the visitors (Hawkins, 1981). Similar effects are
produced by curving the back and the sides of the tank (Fraser-Brunner, 1960; Garnaud, 1977).
Display tanks are usually constructed in cement or fiberglass. These tanks should generally contain
a minimum substrate such as sand or gravel to allow easy cleaning and disinfection. The access to
374 KARYDIS

the tank for servicing purposes must be easy and emptying / refilling procedures should be done
without disturbing the public or wetting areas used by the public.

Research Tanks: A basic requirement in research is flexibility on the size, number and tank
arrangement according to the experimental design. Research tanks can be made of glass,
fiberglass, plywood embedded with epoxy resins, stainless steel or PVC. It is important that the
surfaces will not be toxic and cleaning of the surfaces will be easy. They are usually of rectangular
shape as they do not take up too much space and they are easy to handle. The laboratory where the
tanks are kept should have water and draining facilities at regular intervals so that different tank
arrangements can be easily set under working conditions. It is advisable that their depth should not
exceed 60 or 70 cm so they can easily be handled inside. If special care should be taken about the
fishes, then round tanks seem to be the best solution. This way fishes will not be injured and
circulation can be easily induced. Elongated tanks known as raceways are required if fish need to
swim for a long time possibly against a water flow. Raceways can be built either from plywood or
fiberglass panels. Due to their length they need external of internal bracing.

Aquarium Filtration – Water Treatment

Mechanical filtration: In modern aquariology the term “filter” means at least four different things:
straining, sedimentation, chemical bonding and biological degradation. Filtering requirements should
be considered cautiously: they are a costly procedure, they need very good maintenance and can
also raise many problems referring to anoxia and bacterial contamination under careless operating
conditions. Straining refers to mechanical filtration; it can take place at the water intake or along the
pipelines before the pumps, for the removal of coarse material such as sand and small gravels. This
stage is important not only to improve viewing conditions in the display tanks but also to protect
mechanical equipment from serious damage. The most usual type of mechanical filters is the
cartridge filters. They are commercially available as they are used in swimming pools. Cartridge
filters can be easily inserted directly into the water circulation systems and can be replaced on a
routine basis. If high flow capacity is needed, multiple filter systems can be used in parallel
arrangement. There is a wide choice in sizes, materials and filtration performances so the aquarium
staff should make the right choice taking into account the quality of the seawater at the pipe intake,
the volume to be treated per hour as well as the water quality requirements in the tanks. The system
of mechanical filtration needs good maintenance: disposable cartridges should be replaced
regularly, whereas, permanent filters need frequent back flushing. Sand filters are the commonest
filtering system in public aquaria. The sand used for filtering is characterized by the grain size, grain
shape, specific gravity and grain distribution. The lower limit of sand media is about 20 μm and the
filtering action occurs in the first few centimeters.

Biofilters: Chemical bonding and biological filtration are more delicate and expensive processes;
they are recommended only for closed circulation systems. A closed system supported by biological
filtration can be an independent subsystem in the aquarium if special conditions such as high
temperature are required for keeping tropical fishes. In addition to particulate organic material,
dissolved organic compounds also need treatment. The aquarium organics are mainly metabolic
wastes; their quantity depends on the total biomass, feeding practices, the characteristics of different
foods used, the water temperature as well as the assimilation efficiency of the animals. If solid
wastes are removed by mechanical filtration or sedimentation what is left in the seawater is
ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and dissolved organic compounds. These organics can be toxic to the
captive animals depending on their concentration, the different species, the life stage of the
organism and the environmental conditions (Rand, 1995). In addition, accumulation of nitrogenous
compounds will gradually establish eutrophic conditions in the tanks. The treatment of these
compounds requires biological filtration. The process that either removes nitrogen from the aquarium
or converts it to less toxic compounds are called mineralization, nitrification, dissimilation and
assimilation. Biological filtration converts ammonia and nitrite into nitrate. Aquatic organisms can
tolerate nitrate concentrations up to 200 mg l-1. Nitrate beyond being toxic, is associated with growth
of microalgae that settle on the aquarium glass fronts as well as with inhibition of coral growth in
marine aquaria (Tal et al., 2003). This means that even for a recycling system, gradual water
replacement is necessary. A flow though varying between 5 and 10% of the water volume per day is
adequate in aquaria to keep nitrate concentration low. Bacterial denitrification i.e. conversion of
ORGANIZING A PUBLIC AQUARIUM 375

nitrate into nitrogen gas is not recommended due to methodological complexity, high cost and high
oxygen consumption. Nitrification is the oxidation of ammonia, carried out in two steps aerobically.
The bacterium genus Nitrosomonas oxidizes ammonia to nitrite, whereas the genus Nitrobacter
completes the oxidation reaction producing nitrate. The complete oxidation requires 4.57 mg of
oxygen per mg of ammonia nitrogen (Spotte, 1979) and therefore the oxygen demand should be
taken into account (Manthe et al., 1988). Recently an ion exchange bioreactor has been proposed
(Matos et al., 2009) that converts accumulated nitrate into molecular nitrogen. This system was
applied in a public marine aquarium (Oceanario de Lisboa) and allowed the removal of nitrate at
concentrations of 251 to 380 mg l-1 down to about 27 mg l-1 exchanging it for chloride. High nitrate
concentration can also affect the pH of sea water, shifting to lower pH values. Nitrification takes
place in a separate container called biofilter. Biofilters are usually submerged and is preferable for
the water flow to take place downward (down flow). Technical details on construction and operation
of biofilters have been given by Kaiser and Wheaton (1983). The performance of a biological
denitrification system installed in Ocean Tank at the New Jersey State Aquarium has also been
described (Grguric et al., 2000).

Foam fractionation: Air bubbles are introduced into the water column. As the bubbles raise, a skin
of particulate and dissolved organic compounds surrounding the bubbles, form a foamy water
between the air and water interface. The foam produced is collected and removed to the drain.
Foam formation depends on organic load, chemical composition of the compounds, air – water ratio,
surface tension, temperature, viscosity, pH, bubble size and control time. The optimal bubble size
diameter is 0.8mm (Spotte, 1992). Foam fractionation is also known as protein skimming, air
stripping and froth flotation. Foam fractionation has been described for aquaria by Spotte (1979) and
for aquaculture units by Wheaton et al. (1979).

Activated Carbon: An alternative method to remove dissolved organic carbon from the aquarium
water is to use activated carbon either in powder or granular form. It can absorb organic wastes,
therapeutic drugs (Marking and Piper, 1976) and some trace elements such as copper (Huguenin
and Colt, 1992). Carbon is efficient at low concentrations of organic matter and this is why it is
preferable to be used at a “final polishing” stage in the water treatment procedure to remove
persistent non-biodegradable organics. The carbon performance depends on the composition of the
organics adsorbed, contact time, concentration of organics, biological films on the carbon, particle
size, pore surface area, selectivity, temperature and pH (Huguenin and Colt, 1992). Although
activated carbon can be regenerated, the adsoptive capacity becomes less and less by the time. It is
an expensive method for treating water and it should be applied only if necessary at the final stage
of water treatment.

Ion exchange systems: Zeolites such as clinoptilolite can be used for water treatment as they
selectively absorb ammonia form solution. Ion exchange resins have limited use in aquaria. They
have limited capacity and high cost although they can be regenerated several times (Hawkins,
1981).

Aeration
Ventilation of the display tanks is important because oxygen is necessary for all respiring organisms.
As the concentration of dissolved oxygen in sea water varies between 5 and 7 mg l-1 that is about 30
times less than the oxygen concentration in the atmosphere, continuous aeration is vital for keeping
animal in good condition. In addition to oxygenation, aeration sets up circulation in the tank breaking
up possible stratification. Accumulated carbon dioxide can also be removed through air bubbles.
There are many methods used for aeration. The most common in public aquaria is by using air
diffusers. This type of aerator is a porous material supplied by low pressure air usually through a
blower. The efficiency of submerged aerators mainly depends on temperature, salinity, barometric
pressure, bubble size, average dissolved oxygen concentration and saturation values for oxygen
solubility. The air required for every type of aerator, the transfer efficiency and the absorption
efficiency that is the percent oxygen transferred from air to water can be calculated (Spotte, 1979;
Huguenin and Colt, 1992). There is a wide selection of blowers. They must all be oil free and the
recommended working pressure ranges between 3 and 5 psi. Among the various types of blowers
376 KARYDIS

available in the market, the high flow – low pressure blowers are recommended for use in public
aquaria.

OPERATION
A wide range of organisms kept in public aquaria comes from different types of habitat and different
geographic zones: species from temperate areas, tropical species, species from rocky shores, and
species from sandy bottoms. Some aquaria keep even deep sea fishes. All these organisms need
specific methods of collection; the adaptability of every species is species specific depending on the
biology, life cycle and behavior of each species. There are also different feeding requirements,
different habitat arrangements in the display tanks, different lighting and different aeration conditions.
The variety of tanks used in a public aquarium complicates the problem even more. There is also a
unique design in the building and the infrastructure of almost every public aquarium and all these
peculiarities make operation practices to be sometimes something between craft and science.
Operation methods seem to be aquarium specific and many “tips” successful in one aquarium may
not work in another unit. However, in the present section the basic principles referring to fish
capture, fish transportation, feeding routines, fish disease and disinfection practices will be
described.

Fish capture
Capture of fish for display in public aquaria differs from commercial fishing. Specimens should be
caught and handled alive, without injuries and without skin bruises as bruised fishes are not only
vulnerable to skin microbial infections but also they should not be displayed for aesthetic reasons. In
addition, fishes should be transported and arrive to the aquarium in good condition. Delicate
muccoid and epidermal layers cover the scales and provide waterproofing. Superficial wounds can
also be infected by pathogens. If fishes come from deeper waters, there are also problems of
decompression (Kayama et al., 2002). This problem usually results into the busting of the swimming
bladder. Various practices are applied to ensure successful decompression before surfacing of the
fishes (Solomon and Hawkins, 1981). The choice of the fishing method depends on the species of
interest, the type of habitat, the fish density, local conditions and possible legal restrictions for the
selected type of fishing or the area. As fishing for aquarium enrichment is a costly operation,
demanding a great deal of equipment and manpower, other sources of supply have to be sought
before organizing a fishing expedition. Pet shops, aquaculture farms, marine stations, other aquaria
and anglers can be potential suppliers of good fishes and invertebrates. The rest have to be caught
by the aquarium staff, possibly with the help of local fishermen, applying the following techniques:

Netting: Trawling is not recommended because as fishes are dragged along the bottom of the sea,
they can suffer from stress, skin damage and loss of scales. Gill nets are used for a fixed size of fish
and they are caught by the head or the gills as they are trying to swim through. Even if fishes do not
suffocate before landing, they can be damaged on the head, the gills and their trunk. Only a fraction
of the fishes is alive upon landing and a small fraction of the live fishes will eventually survive. Then
the curator has to decide which ones can be used for display purposes. Circular cast nets with small
lead weights fittings on the outside circles are suitable for small groups of fishes. As a rule fishes are
not damaged but this type of netting is limited only to few species and the technique is suitable for
flat sandy bottoms. Encircling nets with very small “eye” seem to work well; it is rather unlikely that
fishes will be damaged. Fishnets in the form of a bowl can also be an efficient way for catching small
fishes near the surface. It is preferable to use knotless nets and fishnets to avoid fish bruising (Coles
and Butterworth, 1976).

Trapping: These are usually baited traps and can be used in almost every type of habitat. They are
particularly useful in rocky bottoms and reefs where netting is either impossible or very risky for net
damage.

Electrical Fishing: The method is suitable for freshwater fishes and is not recommended for
seawater fishing. Some of the fishing devices use AC current, other DC current (Vibert, 1967;
Hartley, 1975). They are both efficient but based on different principles: AC stuns the fish and caught
ORGANIZING A PUBLIC AQUARIUM 377

by a dipnet; DC attracts the fish to the anode and also collected with a dipnet. Fishes recover quickly
from the electric sock without further problems.

Chemical Methods: They have limited use. They can only be used in streams and ponds. Use of
chemicals is forbidden by the fishing legislation of many countries.

Angling: The experience and expertise of the local fishermen is inevitable. The rate of catchment is
slow but different species can be caught usually with minimal damage. Damage can result in case of
angling from the jaw or if the fish shallows the bait.

Fish Transport
Literature on transporting live fishes has been mounting up due aquaculture practices; transportation
of juveniles and brood stock is a routine in fish farms (Portz, 2006) as well as transportation of
ornamental fishes (Lim et al., 2003). As the objective of transportation is the fishes to arrive at the
aquarium in good condition, small number of fishes should be carried out at a time. Tanks used for
transportation play an important role in the whole operation. The shape of the tanks is either
rectangular or cylindrical; it is advisable to be insulated so that temperature can be kept constant as
much as possible. Toxic materials should be avoided. Aeration is usually necessary during
transportation depending of the fish load, the water temperature, the duration of the journey and fish
condition. If continuous supply of air is difficult or impossible, fishes can be placed in air tight bags
that will be blown with air. Plenty of air volume should be above the water surface, the
recommended seawater: air ratio being 1:4 (Taylor and Solomon, 1979a). Fish biomass should not
exceed 100gr per liter of seawater. If transportation takes place in air tight bags, the whole operation
should not last more than 4-5 h as carbon dioxide and ammonia build up in the bag and may harm
the fishes (Taylor and Solomon, 1979). It is advisable to use a tranquillizer during transportation. The
drug will slow down fish metabolism and therefore decrease oxygen demand and carbon dioxide/
ammonia production. In addition, fishes with less stress are less likely to be injured on the tank walls
because of anxiety and intense movement. Information on tranquillizers has been given in literature
(Gibson, 1967; Taylor and Solomon, 1979b; Solomon and Hawkins, 1981; Taylor and Roberts,
1999).

Fish Quarantine
The stock brought to the aquarium should be kept separately from the aquarium organisms for about
a month. This is necessary for the acclimatization of the fishes in their new environment; at the same
time they will be inspected for wounds or diseases. This is the quarantine stage. Disinfection of the
tank should be carried out using iodine based disinfectants. High quality sea water should be
supplied to the tanks. Fishes should be checked for physical damage due to captive and
transportation procedures. Skin, fins and gills should be thoroughly inspected as bacteria and fungi
often cause diseases. Skin abrasions are also prone to bacterial and fungi attacks. Fishes in
quarantine should be also treated for parasites (nematodes, cestodes) as well as for external
protozoa usually affecting gills and skin. When the fishes settle well in their new home and are
disease free, they can be transferred to display or reserve tanks and mixed with the old fish stock.

Food and Feeding

Feeding aquarium organisms shows some complexity as they are many different species including
vertebrates and invertebrates; the aquarium stock varies not only in species composition but also in
age and size within the same species. Feeding aquarium animals is not therefore easy as some
species do not easily accept routine feeding as feeding behavior plays an important role in some
species. This is why four categories of fish food should be available in a public aquarium: (a)
commercial foods used in aquaculture farms usually in the form of pellets (b) commercial foods used
in home aquaria usually in the form of flakes (c) fresh food such as fish flesh and invertebrates
(Cisse et al., 1995) and (d) live food (i.e. Artemia). The present section will be therefore limited to
general guidelines concerning fish foods and feeding. Feeding practices should take into account
ration size, growth rate, temperature and body composition (Cowey, 1981). Many fishes locate food
by eye others by movement. They can also detect the food through the sense of smell. As fishes rely
378 KARYDIS

on chemoreceptors they examine food thoroughly before eating. Rejection of commercial foods may
be due to pellet size, shape, tast and hardness. The situation can be improved if taste attractants are
added to the food. It has been found a long time ago (Fujija and Bardach, 1966) that several amino
acids act as attractants causing a positive response of the fishes to food pellets. Fish food was also
becoming attractive for some species if nucleotides were added (Kiyohara et al., 1975). Among the
amino acids, glycine and alanine were found the most effective when added to food. Nowadays,
commercial aquarium foods are well balanced in nutrient and attractants to fishes.
Abiotic parameters can also affect feeding behavior: light intensity can affect feeding habits; the
optimal light intensity is depending on the species. Noise is always a negative factor for fish appetite.
It has been found that low frequency noise (below 100Hz) caused fright reaction to herring (Cowey,
1981). Aquarium “scenery” can also affect feeding behavior. It has been reported by some authors
(Hawkins, 1981) that sandy bottom helps flatfishes to eat, whereas pipes seem to improve eating
habits of eels.Social factors can also be critical. Overcrowding or dominant individuals may cause
problems that affect the feeding of fishes. Overcoming the difficulties in fish feeding is more a matter
of craft and experience of the curators. Different conditions from one public aquarium to another or
even from one tank to another need special attention.
It is necessary sometimes to use live food. Water fleas (Daphnia) have been recommended for a
number of fishes (Bardach et al., 1972). The brine shrimp (Artemia) has been found attractive as a
live food source and produces much better survival in juveniles. Mosquito larvae can also be used.
They are attractive as food and do not consume dissolved oxygen as they surface and breathe
atmospheric air. There are no strict formulations for fish food and therefore empirical preparations
can work well. It has been reported (Vigayagopal et al., 2008) that formulated foods consisting of fish
meal, shrimp meal, squid meal and soybean meal were used successfully for marine ornamental
damsel fish (Dasyllus arnanius) and this food has been proposed for rearing and aquarium keeping
of damsel fish worldwide. Hence or otherwise fish curators should not have in mind the fish growth
as the main objective of a public aquarium is to display healthy fishes. As uneaten food increases
the organic load of the system, it is advisable that aquarium staff will stick to the old rule (Innes,
1966). “Feed only enough prepared food at one time so that practically all of it is consumed within 5
minutes”.

Aquarium Fish Diseases

Fish diseases in an aquarium can be a continuous headache for the fish curators due to a wide
range of species and sizes kept in captivity. As the origin of the specimens can be regional, from
other areas or from other aquaria and fish farms, fish pathology becomes a complicated problem
because the previous health history of fishes introduced to the aquarium tanks is not known. In
addition to the admission of diseased fishes, a fish disease may also be due to environmental
conditions (light regime, temperature, dissolved oxygen), water quality (dissolved organic
compounds, ammonia, residues from toxic compounds used as disinfectants and other toxic
compounds). Capture and transportation can also cause a traumatic shock. Handling routines in the
quarantine and the display tanks as well as problems in the mechanical equipment i.e. failure in
pumps, aeration and filtration can cause health problems. Inadequate diet and stress can also
induce diseases (McVicar and Richards, 1981). The treatment of fish diseases needs the expertise
of an ichthyopathologist; the present section will be limited to the source of diseases, hygienic
conditions and practices that should be routinely applied in a public aquarium. Early disease
detection with the first symptoms can lead to successful therapy, avoiding extensive disease
outbreaks and mass deaths. Healthy fishes should show clean bodies and untorn fins (Stokoe,
1966). Swelling of the belly can be a symptom of internal digestive ailment provided that the fish is
not pregnant. Loss of color is also a symptom of metabolic and circulatory problems. Skin diseases
show symptoms of discoloration, the appearance of ecchymoses, formation of white spots or grey
slime. Lack of appetite can also be related to fish health. Fish diseases can be caused by bacteria,
fungi, viruses and parasites. Some fish diseases such as fin and tail rotting as well as dermatitis
although they have to be cured to avoid a disease outbreak, they can also affect fish appearance; In
that case the fishes are not suitable for the display tanks.
Control measures are necessary to avoid diseases. Disinfection of aquaria, piping, pumps and the
rest of the equipment should be carried out on a regular basis. Water quality should be checked and
disinfection using a UV source or an ozonator should be applied if necessary. Abiotic conditions
ORGANIZING A PUBLIC AQUARIUM 379

should also be cared for and a balanced diet should be provided to the specimens. As commercial
food can lead to lack of some trace elements or vitamins, fish meals should be combined with fresh
food and if possible with live food. Records with the fish diseases in the aquarium should be kept; it
is going to save time and effort when problems arise.

Dinsinfection
Disinfection reduces the number of microorganisms to an acceptable level that does not cause
health hazards to aquarium fishes. As the outbreak of a disease also depends on the general
condition of the aquarium and fish condition, it is not easy to define thresholds values referring to
microbial populations; curators experience is very important. Disinfection is applied to holding
facilities and equipment as well as on the incoming water; if the system is closed water should be
disinfected before reuse (Huguenin and Colt, 1992). The disinfectants used in an aquarium can be
(a) chemical compounds and (b) ozone.

Chemical disinfectants: Chemical compounds used as disinfectants include iodine compounds,

formalin, ammonium compounds and chlorine. A good disinfectant should be very effective in killing
microorganisms and at the same time water soluble as these compounds are very toxic to aquatic
life. Iodophors (orgnanic iodine compounds) are costly compounds but very effective. Concentration
ranging between 50 and 100 mg l-1 for 10-30 min can be very effective. In addition, the change of the
coloration of iodophors indicates when this chemical is no longer effective. Chlorine although is a low
cost chemical, it can be used under special conditions. The chemistry of chlorine compounds in
seawater and freshwater is very complex and results in the formation of a wide range of organic
compounds, called disinfection byproducts or DBPs (Golfinopoulos et al., 2003); these compounds
have adverse health effects on human beings (Nikolaou et al., 2004). Milder disinfectants such as
ethyl alcohol, benzy-4-chlorophenol, phenylophynol and sodium chlorite were found effective in
reducing or eliminating populations of Mycobacterium marinum in aquaria (Mainous and Smith,
2005).

Ozone treatment: although ozone is widely used for disinfecting drinking water (Loeb, 2009), ozone
treatment in an aquarium will be used with causion. Ozone is highly toxic to both human and many
species cultured (Wickins and Helm, 1981). In addition, it is corrosive to aquarium equipment and
destroys chelating agents such as humic acid. It is also an expensive method for disinfecting
aquarium water. Ozonation can be considered for recirculating systems where bacteria populations
tend to increase drastically; also ammonia and nitrite should be oxidized. The efficiency of ozonation
depends on turbidity, salinity, dissolved substances, microbial populations and planktonic densities.

Ultraviolet light: UV light reduces the reproductive capacity of bacteria and therefore acts as a
bacteriostatic method. Similar effects have been observed on fungi. Part of the dissolved organic
matter is also oxidized (Wickins and Helm, 1981). The wavelength used varies in the range of 240 to
280 nm and a dose of 30,000 to 35,000 μW s-1 cm-2 is commonly used (Huguenin and Colt, 1992).
The presence of particulate material reduces the efficiency of the UV radiation and therefore filtration
of the sea water is recommended before the UV treatment.

AQUARIUM MISSIONS
The mission of a successful aquarium includes visitors recreation, education, research and
conservation. All these missions cannot be served in isolation from each other but rather in an
interactive mode with mutual benefits. However, in the present review these missions will be viewed
in separate sections as the emphasis will be given rather to the core of each activity than the positive
outcome from their interaction.

RESEARCH
Research activities are considered as a primary objective in many public aquaria (Hutchins and
Smith, 2003). Many reasons have been reported for the growing interest on research in public
aquaria: increased interest in conservation and biodiversity issues, the need for applied research to
solve management problems, the growing interest to environmental sciences and environmental
380 KARYDIS

protection as well as the availability of animal stock for experimenting in the aquarium tanks (Stoinski
et al., 1998). The fields of study cover a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines: behavior, nutrition
(Corsini and Karydis, 1990; Kalogirou et al., 2007), demography, genetics, reproduction,
ichthyopathology, life histories, autoecology (Corsini and Economides, 1999), marine ecology
(Karydis and Corsini, 1985) and wildlife management (Hutchins and Thompson, 2008). As public
aquaria have extended their scientific programs to environmental issues on coastal ecosystems and
coastal water quality are within their interests.
Although the potential for research in aquaria is obvious, there is still questioning concerning
research organization models (Lawson et al., 2008). If the staff is dedicated only to research the
scientific output can be sound; in addition, there is more time for collaboration with Academic
Institutions and for fund raising but may not be integration of research with the aquarium interests.
This can lead to limited flow of information and collaboration among the education staff, the
aquarium care staff and the research staff. On the other hand, if the integrated approach is accepted
mutual benefits are expected. In 2004 a survey was carried out (Lawson et al., 2008) among zoo
and aquarium professionals focusing on three primary professional communities: conservation
scientists, education staff and zoo/ aquarium directors. The results showed that the majority of zoo/
aquarium researchers was focusing on animal management (“animal health and well being”)
followed by “creating and maintaining self sustaining populations”. Other fields of scientific interest,
conserving wild places and inspiring caring and conservation action were not a priority for the
aquarium scientific community. Research in an aquarium shows both advantages and shortcomings:
research needs, scientific and technical manpower that comes from the staff managing the aquarium
but also needs financial contribution and administrative support. On the other hand, research
improves the scientific quality of the personnel involved, makes fund raising easier and promotes
collaboration with research centers and universities. This collaboration promotes educational goals
for both sides and allows benefits through shared resources (Freistner and Price, 2002). Academic
Institutions offer library and laboratory facilities as well as research staff highly qualified in laboratory
methodology. Public aquaria offer the animal stock and infrastructure for keeping them for
experimentation. Views also have been expressed on the mutual benefits from research
collaborations between Zoos and Academic Institutions by Fernandez and Timberlake (2008).
Another issue arising about research carried out in aquaria is research priorities. Most publications
on this subject considered as priority in research efforts the scientific fields of behavior, genetics,
reproductive biology, re-introduction and environmental enrichment (Hutchins and Thompson, 2008).
Statistical analysis was attempted to access the presentation of Zoos and Aquaria in research
Journals (Wemmer et al., 1997). The authors analyzed 395 articles published by the Zoo Biology
Journal over the last 15 years. On the basis of senior author’s affiliation, Zoos accounted for 43%,
Aquaria for 5.5% and Universities for 36% of the articles. Although affiliations between Universities
and Aquaria exist, they are not too obvious in the Zoo Biology journal. This finding suggests that
there is still a lot of potential for developing research activities based on public aquaria.

EDUCATION
The contribution of aquaria towards environmental education can be either to the level of formal
education or towards non-formal education programs mainly to encourage environmentally
responsible behavior.
Formal environmental education developes at academic level. Aquaria can accept Ph.D. and Post
Doc. students through joint research projects with Academic Institutions. On the other hand it has
been reported (Lawson et al., 2008) that many Universities oriented to “modern” disciplines do not
offer courses on natural history programs such as mammology, herpetology and animal behavior.
Research oriented staff can be actively engaged in University teaching both at undergraduate and
graduate level. This has happened between Zoo Atlanta and Georgia State University (Lawson et
al., 2008). This close collaboration can lead to further fund raising for research and conservation.
The non formal education is central mission to almost all zoos and aquaria. These education
projects are targeting to both children and adults; aquarium visitors, school pupils, members of clubs
or societies on natural history and conservation are the main classes of visitors. It has been urged
that traditional teaching may not be enough to promote Environmentally Responsible Behavior
(ERB) alone. On the contrary, it has been found that people familiar with nature exhibited more ERB
ORGANIZING A PUBLIC AQUARIUM 381

(Price et al., 2009). School groups can enjoy guided tours and training sessions. The National
Marine Aquarium at Plymouth offers tuition in subjects like species identification, habitats,
adaptations and pollution (NMA, 2009). The same Aquarium also offers training to secondary school
pupils, more advance material; their learning program includes fields such as climate change,
fisheries, coral conservation and pathogens.
Research on the educational value of aquaria carried out at three aquaria in Britain (Evans, 1997)
using questionnaires, the Newquay Sea-Life Center (Corwall), the Weymouth sea-life Center
(Dorset) and the Pool Aquarium (Dorset), showed that visitors preferred public aquaria to improve
their levels of interpretation and to be provided with more information on conservation aspects. The
same author reported that the information provided by these aquaria was distorted for two reasons
(a) as most of the exhibits were fishes, the information provided to visitors was distorted as far as the
range of species and species diversity in the marine environment and (b) the environmental impact
from the fishing industry was not mentioned. Non-formal environmental eduation is still an open field
and educators can organize courses, seminars or presentations using live specimens, preserved
organisms, film projections and computer software on conservation issues. It has been shown that
even preserved or dried animal were also effective for understanding the marine environment
(Sherwood et al., 1989). Although there are many concepts concerning the way that environmental
education can be organized in public aquaria there is one point beyond any doubt: the environment
is in a critical state. The potential of aquaria should be fully exploited especially if the impact of
aquaria on their guests is considered. The aquarium environment inspires the recreational visitor to
act in an environmentally responsible manner (Ogden and Heimlich, 2009).

CONSERVATION
There is no doubt as to the importance of public aquaria for protecting marine and freshwater
species. Overfishing and water pollution devastate wild populations and aquaria play the role of the
“ark” for the survival of many species (Gibbons and Stoskopf, 1983). Fishes are the most
endangered species among aquatic organisms and a number of available approaches has been
suggested for fish conservation: habitat management, habitat restoration, translocation, captive
breeding and cryptopreservation (Maitland, 1995). If habitat management and restoration is not
possible, translocation can be attempted i.e. creation of additional independent stocks. Aquaria can
provide care, conservation expertise and well trained staff to cope with the conservation approaches
mentioned above. However, conservation oriented to propagation projects of captive fishes is facing
difficulties (Thoney et al., 2003) due to high taxonomic diversity, a wide variety of reproductive
methods as well as lack of knowledge on ecological, behavioral and nutritional needs for some
species; knowledge on husbandry and fish pathology is also limited.

VISITORS
Public aquaria attract a large number of domestic and international visitors. There are several factors
that keep the public popularity of aquaria high. Many people nowadays live in cities and the natural
environment is not within their daily routines and experiences (Wetzel and O’Brien, 1995). Aquatic
organisms cannot be observed regularly as aquatic environment is not accessible to people.
Individuals, families and social groups are visitors of aquaria. The aquarium exhibits habitat
replications, integrated film and video programs enhance the educational value of public aquaria.
The animal visitors see within a public aquarium are “ambassadors” of the natural world (Taylor,
1995). This way aquaria shift from recreational centers to informal educational centers. Interaction
panels, posters and web facilities can act as interactive interfaces and promote both interest and
learning (Lin, 2007). A study was conducted at the National Aquarium in Baltimore (NAIB) to access
visitor’s experience to conservation (Adelman et al., 2000). The study provided evidence that
visitor’s attitude was affected in the short term. Enthusiasm and emotional commitment to
conservation returned to the original levels. These results indicate that a more integrated policy is
needed for the visitors to be conservation oriented and participate in conservation actions. On the
other hand, Monderay Bay Aquarium (MBA), tried to assess visitor’s interests towards conservation
as MBA major mission was to inspire visitors to the conservation of the oceans (Yalowitz, 2004). It
was found that most visitors responded positively to conservation. If we take into account that large
aquaria handle millions of visitors per year, it is obvious how crucial they can be in conservation and
non-formal education.
382 KARYDIS

PUBLIC AQUARIA: FUTURE PROSPECTS

Over the last three decades public aquaria are blossoming all over the world. New aquaria are built
with modern concept and design; many old aquaria have been renovated. Four reasons have been
reported that make construction and operation of aquaria feasible (Wetzel and O’Brien, 1995): (a)
Construction and operation costs can be accurately accessed (b) they have limited requirements for
space and therefore they can be built in urban areas with many potential visitors and academic
opportunities (c) they are still popular as recreation centers and (d) they can enliven declining
waterfront areas and (e) widening of the missions of the aquaria to include recreation, education,
conservation, research and social benefits. These missions also help funding of the aquaria through
research, conservation and educational projects, promote collaboration between aquaria and
Academic Institutions and improve staff quality. Book publications and film productions on aquatic
and marine life enhance the relationships between visitors and aquaria; the contribution of aquaria to
change people’s attitudes towards nature can be the target for this century.

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 animals
Opinion
Orca Behavior and Subsequent Aggression
Associated with Oceanarium Confinement
Robert Anderson 1 , Robyn Waayers 2 and Andrew Knight 3, *
1 Retired, Space Dynamics Laboratory, Utah State University Research Foundation, Logan, UT 84341, USA;
kin2ceta@gmail.com
2 Palomar College, 1140 West Mission Road, San Marcos, CA 92069, USA; rwaayers@gmail.com
3 Centre for Animal Welfare, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Winchester,
Sparkford Road, Winchester SO22 4NR, UK
* Correspondence: Andrew.Knight@winchester.ac.uk; Tel.: +44-019-6282-7266

Academic Editor: Clive J. C. Phillips

Received: 5 April 2016; Accepted: 11 August 2016; Published: 18 August 2016

Simple Summary: Orca behaviors interacting with humans within apparent friendship bonds are
reviewed, and some impediments to the human evaluation of delphinid intelligence are discussed.
The subsequent involvement of these orcas and their offspring in aggressive incidents with humans
is also documented and examined. This is particularly relevant given that the highest recorded rates
of aggressive incidents have occurred among orcas who had previously established unstructured
human friendship bonds prior to their inclusion within oceanaria performances. It is concluded
that the confinement of orcas within aquaria, and their use in entertainment programs, is morally
indefensible, given their high intelligence, complex behaviors, and the apparent adverse effects on
orcas of such confinement and use.

Abstract: Based on neuroanatomical indices such as brain size and encephalization quotient, orcas
are among the most intelligent animals on Earth. They display a range of complex behaviors
indicative of social intelligence, but these are difficult to study in the open ocean where protective
laws may apply, or in captivity, where access is constrained for commercial and safety reasons.
From 1979 to 1980, however, we were able to interact with juvenile orcas in an unstructured way at
San Diego’s SeaWorld facility. We observed in the animals what appeared to be pranks, tests of trust,
limited use of tactical deception, emotional self-control, and empathetic behaviors. Our observations
were consistent with those of a former Seaworld trainer, and provide important insights into orca
cognition, communication, and social intelligence. However, after being trained as performers
within Seaworld’s commercial entertainment program, a number of orcas began to exhibit aggressive
behaviors. The orcas who previously established apparent friendships with humans were most
affected, although significant aggression also occurred in some of their descendants, and among the
orcas they lived with. Such oceanaria confinement and commercial use can no longer be considered
ethically defensible, given the current understanding of orcas’ advanced cognitive, social, and
communicative capacities, and of their behavioral needs.

Keywords: orca; Orcinus orca; cognition; Theory of Mind (ToM); emotion; aggression; animal ethics

1. Introduction
Intelligence is the mental quality that consists of the abilities to learn from experience, to reason,
to plan and solve problems, to understand and handle abstract concepts, and to broadly comprehend
and adapt to one’s surroundings [1]. Cognition includes the various mental actions and processes
that underlie intelligence. While intelligence is an amorphous term with different definitions and uses

Animals 2016, 6, 49; doi:10.3390/ani6080049 www.mdpi.com/journal/animals

Animals 2016, 6, 49 2 of 16

by diverse groups [2], legal and social perceptions regarding animal intelligence impact animal
conservation and welfare [3,4]. This paper examines orca behaviors that may be indicative of
their cognitive abilities. These behaviors are presented as potential data points for the discipline
of comparative cognition (Comparative cognition examines basic elements of cognition seeking to
understand the nature and evolution of cognition in human and non-human animals) [5], but also as
support in advocating for legislative, conservation, and welfare treatment of orcas that appropriately
recognizes their cognitive capacities.
Imaging studies have shown that there is a neural distinction between the processing of
physical aspects and social aspects of the world, i.e., so called physical and social cognition [6].
Physical cognition is inherently tied to the environment. The marine environment provides starkly
different physical circumstances from the terrestrial.
Physical adaptation to aquatic life leads to streamlined forms that generally lack the ability to
manipulate and carry tools. Added buoyancy reduces striking force while currents and the viscosity of
water render the control of objects more difficult. Further, the oceanic environment is three-dimensional
with potential tool materials confined to the bottom surface. By its nature, the marine environment
lends less advantage for tool use as well as less opportunity for tool creation [7]. While some instances
of dolphins using sponges as tools have been reported, delphinids have not developed tool-making
abilities comparable to humans or apes.
On the other hand, social cognition is far more invariant regarding these physical regimes.
The neural structures governing instinctive sociosexual behavior have remained all but unchanged
in vertebrates for 500 million years [6], rendering social cognition a more appropriate vehicle for
comparing marine and terrestrial species.

2. Orca and Human Phylogeny, and an Introduction to the Observed Orcas

Orcas, Orcinus orca, occupy all the oceans on Earth, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Orcas belong
to the order Cetartiodactyla. The early ancestors of humans and orcas were already evolutionarily
separate in the Cretaceous period, some 90 million years ago. Rapid encephalization within the orca
line of evolution developed during the Oligocene period; that within the human line began during
the Pliocene period. Orca and dolphin lineages differentiated around 8 million years ago; human and
chimpanzee lineages differentiated around 6 million years ago [8].
Genetic studies of orca ecotypes (An ecotype is a distinct population, adapted to a particular
environment, and exhibiting behavioral and physiological differences from other members of a species)
indicate that the root divergence dates back some 700,000 years [9]. Homo sapiens have existed for
approximately 200,000 years [10]. Quite arguably, both species’ successes are based on complex social
life, evolvable cultures, and intelligence [11,12].
Orcas have only been maintained in captivity starting in the 1960s when the first captives were
studied and displayed in oceanaria. Orca ecotypes with oceanic coastal ranges have a long tradition of
powerful totemic association to some native peoples. In Western civilization, orcas have long been
considered ferocious killers as exemplified by the writings of Pliny the Elder, et al. (Naturalis Historia,
IX, Chapter (5) The Natural History of Fishes, 6. The Balæna and the Orca, “This fact however is
known to the orca, an animal which is particularly hostile to the balæna, and the form of which cannot
in any way adequately be described, but as an enormous mass of flesh armed with teeth”. The Natural
History of Pliny, Volume II, Bostok, J. and Riley H. T. (1855). Captain Robert F. Scott, RN, in his
5 January 1911 journal entry on Herbert Ponting’s encounter with orcas at the edge of an ice floe,
describes the orcas as hideous and that their teeth are the largest and most terrifying in the world [13].
As recently as 1973, the U.S. Navy Diving Manual gave orcas their highest danger rating, referring to
them as extremely ferocious beasts attacking humans at every opportunity [14] (p. 11)).
During 1979 and 1980, the San Diego SeaWorld facility (San Diego, CA, USA) possessed a number
of juvenile orcas, aged two to five years that were in training to become performers. They were in
their first one to three years of captivity. These orcas were rotated one or two at a time into a marine
Animals 2016, 6, 49 3 of 16

mammal petting pool (subsequently referred to as the pool) where visitors could interact with them.
Authors Anderson and Waayers were among some two dozen regular visitors who established bonds
with these orcas. Waayers spent more time with the orcas than Anderson, and the authors include the
experiences of others who interacted with the orcas (Alan Deeley, Russell Hockins, and Lisa Larrabee),
as well, in the following. Narratives and photographs of the interactions can be found on the authors’
website: www.KinToCetaceans.org.
The orcas were named: Canuck 2 (subsequently referred to as Canuck), Katina, Kasatka, and
Kotar. They were of the North Atlantic ecotype, having been captured in Icelandic waters.
This circumstance was rather unique. Orcas who had experienced one to three years of
socialization in wild pods were able to form friendship bonds with humans of their own choosing and
largely free from supervision. Current United States and Canadian laws forbid human interactions
with and constrain approaching wild orcas. Increasing concern over aggressive and sometimes
deadly human-orca incidents have led to occupational safety regulations limiting human interactions
with captive orcas. Captive orcas are legally held to be property, and they are monetarily valuable.
Worldwide there are over 50 orcas in captivity, of which SeaWorld Parks and Entertainment owns
around 30. There are corporate protocols for their handling, training, and use in performances,
described in former SeaWorld trainer John Hargrove’s book, Beneath the Surface [15] (pp. 43–67).

3. Anthropomorphism as a Tool for Cognitive Research

There is a cluster of behaviors, observable in social species that if applied to humans would
designate friendship or some other affectionate bond: maintaining physical proximity, mutual
grooming, affectionate contact and vocalizations, and mutual focused attention. The human emotions
associated with such bonds include affection and trust. Silk discusses the use of the word friendship
to describe such relations among non-human primates [16]. There are likewise behaviors associated
with physical separation and reactions to a third party that if applied to humans would designate
separation anxiety and jealousy.
Humans mutually engaged in these bonding behaviors develop synchronized emotional states.
This is often reflected in both spoken and body languages. Humans can also develop such bonds with
non-human animals; e.g., with domesticated companion animals. They mutually engage in bonding
behaviors. The human experiences emotions equivalent to those in human-human bonding and can
observe the body language and vocalizations of the non-human. There are numerous studies on the
psychological and physiological effects on humans due to interactions with companion animals [17],
as well as studies on the physiological and wellbeing effects on dogs and laboratory animals from
interactions with their caretakers [18,19].
Charles Darwin believed that higher human facilities had developed gradually and that humans
and other animals differed more in degree than absolute nature [20] (pp. 34–69). He made
anthropomorphic assessments of animal behaviors in his writings. Subsequent scientific thought
rendered the term anthropomorphism a pejorative, holding that subjective experience was outside
the realm of scientific inquiry. However, scientific consensus has changed. Burghardt has advocated
for a critical anthropomorphism that uses empathy and intuition to produce constantly refined and
publicly verifiable predictions [21].
While the experiences that authors Anderson and Waayers had with these orcas were not
controlled experiments, they might suggest hypotheses that are subject to verification. The possibility
of adapting this approach for learning more about orca social cognition is discussed later in this paper.
Such future examinations of orca cognition would undoubtedly be increased in scientific value by
following such approaches as suggested by critical anthropomorphism.
SeaWorld orca trainers spent years working with other marine mammals before working with
orcas. Then they entered an apprenticeship with a cadre of senior orca trainers prior to any physical
interactions with orcas [15] (pp. 34–38). Apprentices could not even interact with an orca through
a glass window, lest that interaction lead to unwanted behaviors [15] (p. 50).
Animals 2016, 6, 49 4 of 16

In contrast, the visitors who established friendships with the orcas had no training and no
surrounding cadre of experienced mentors. For their part, Anderson and Waayers followed their own
empathy and intuition—their own anthropomorphic assessments of orcas. These were sufficient to
establish the mutual behaviors that by subjective assessment represented friendship.

4. The Human-Animal Bond

Orcas are social mammals that will readily bond with humans. Humans and non-humans
demonstrate corresponding behavior, body language, and vocalizations which by argument to analogy
could indicate synchronized emotional states. The human ability to interpret non-human body
language and vocalizations varies with learning experience. It is arguably adaptive for any animal
facing either predator or prey species to have such an ability. This ability appears to be flexible in that
after some exposure, the emotion being expressed (its body language representation) by the non-human
may implicitly evoke the corresponding emotion in the human (depending on circumstances), without
the time delay of reflection. Humans’ non-conscious perception of emotional stimuli such as facial
expressions is well established, and its neuroanatomy is of ancient lineage [22]. Non-humans may
implicitly perceive human body language as well, as documented by Smith et al. [23], and in the
authors’ experiences as described below.

5. Observations of Orca Behavior and the Petting Pool Environment

Human visitors at the petting pool were restricted to leaning against an outer pool wall of waist
height. The orcas could rest their heads on or completely slide out onto an underwater shelf extending
inward from this wall. Human visitors could then contact the orcas’ heads, including the insides
of their mouths, and their entire bodies if the orcas slid onto the shelf fully. These untrained orcas
repeatedly sought human physical contact including face and head rubs, tongue rubs, and whole-body
rubdowns. Typically, there was little supervision of the interactions between human visitors and the
occupants of the petting pool. The following subsections describe additional interactions that are
suggestive of social intelligence in orcas.

5.1. Orca Self-Control and Reaction to Human Fear

The authors have no personal recollection of incidents in which a petting pool orca harmed
a human visitor. They also did not observe mistreatment of the orcas by visitors. Once regular
interaction began with an orca, the authors’ subjective interpretation was that the orca appeared to
exercise caution such that human harm was avoided.
It appeared that the orcas learned which of their behaviors resulted in negative human responses
and avoided those behaviors in future interactions. If their motive was to experience positive
interactions with humans (for relief from boredom, reduction of a sense of social isolation, etc.),
they indeed achieved this.
Examples of possible orca modification of behavior to mitigate human fear include: (1) During the
initial meeting between Anderson and Canuck, Anderson was wary of the orca’s massive tooth-filled
mouth, and consciously kept his hands well clear of it. Canuck notably did not close his mouth until
well clear of Anderson’s hands; (2) Kotar repeated this behavior on Anderson’s next visit. It was
noted that after Anderson felt comfortable placing his hand inside the orcas’ mouths that they halted
this behavior; (3) Kotar gently mouthed Anderson’s hand only after about 15 min of tongue rubbing
and manipulation.
Orcas did sometimes close their mouths on human hands or forearms. Anderson noted that an
orca only did this if the human had freely placed his or her hand in the orca’s mouth, and there was
always ample time for removal of one’s hand if desired. The authors never observed an orca grasp
a hand from mid-air. Also, when an orca did pull on a human hand, it always let go before actually
pulling the person into the pool (Anderson discovered that upon stiffening his body, and creating
a slight resistance to the pull, the orca was induced to release its grasp). Waayers noted that Kasatka
Animals 2016, 6, 49 5 of 16

was the most prone to “snappishness”, but her style involved an open-mouthed swipe near a person’s
hand, with no actual harm done, interpreted by Waayers as a “leave me alone” signal.

5.2. Orca Tests of Human Trust

The authors noted what appeared to be a correlation between the level of trust a human showed
an orca and the subsequent depth of the orca/human rapport. Seeming tests of trust on the part of
the orcas included: (1) Canuck, when first encountering Anderson, suddenly and without warning
emerged from beneath a bottlenose dolphin with which Anderson had been interacting, with the
orca opening his mouth wide very close to Anderson’s face. Anderson interpreted this as a greeting
combined with a test of trust; (2) Kotar greeted Anderson (upon his last visit with the orcas) by sliding
on top of him as he bent over the pool wall, and holding him pinned until the author gave him
a human style hug in return, seemingly mixing a test of trust with prank-like behavior; (3) Hockins
reported Kasatka and Kotar simultaneously pulling on each of his arms, apparently mixing a test of
trust with prank-like behavior. Anderson’s assessment is that the issues of trust, humor, and affection
often seemed intertwined in the orcas’ actions. This could of course relate to the difficulty of a human
interpreting orca intentions. Additionally, Hargrove [15] (p. 99) reports that a lesson he learned from
senior trainer Ken Peters was that it aided his relationship with Kasatka to place himself in a vulnerable
position with her.
There could be alternative explanations for the seeming trust/rapport connection. It is possible
that human visitors that were less fearful and more inventive in their interactions with the orcas were
seen to be more stimulating and thus more desirable for the orcas to interact with.

5.3. Limited Use of Tactical Deception

A tactical deception is an act from the normal repertoire of one individual, deployed such
that another individual will likely misinterpret what the act signifies, to the advantage of the
first individual [24]. Mitchell and Thompson [25] (pp. 21–29) define four levels of tactical deception.
Level 4 deception involves recognition of the other animal’s beliefs about actions. Mitchell and
Thompson use chimpanzees’ behavior to mislead others about the location of food as an example of
this level. They describe this level as planned and self-programmed. Humans and many non-human
primate species practice such deception, arguably with intent [26].
Orcas did not appear to display this level of tactical deception in the authors’ experience, other
than its possible application for humor, as described in the next section. It should be noted that Bigg’s
or Transient orcas are silent when hunting marine mammals [27], which Mitchell and Thompson [25]
(pp. 21–29) would classify as Level 2 deception, i.e., coordination of perception and action.

5.4. Orca Pranks

The orcas seemed inclined to play pranks, or in other words to display behaviors that appeared to
have the sole intent of generating a certain desired reaction in a human or humans. Pranks and tactical
deception both contain an element of instilling false beliefs; however, pranks have a humorous intent
as opposed to deception’s intent to take advantage.
Tactical deception has been noted as a potential indicator of Theory of Mind (ToM) in apes [28].
ToM is the ability to infer what others might be thinking or feeling, and to predict what they might do
in a given situation [29]. Could orca pranks be a comparable indicator of ToM?
Prank-like behavior observed among the orcas included: (1) Kotar sliding on top of the waist
high outer pool wall and then squirting the crowd with a mouthful of water only after curious pool
visitors approached him closely, as observed by Waayers when a tour group was present; (2) Waayers
observed Kotar and Kasatka alternately beaching themselves on the lower pool ledge, as if to request
a rubdown. As the closest orca was approached, it slid back into the water, and the other would beach
itself further away, with the orcas never allowing an approach close enough for touching; (3) Katina
beaching herself on top of Hockins’ forearms, holding him pinned. He reports that she made eye
Animals 2016, 6, 49 6 of 16

contact with him and subjectively assessed her message to be “I got you”. Whether this was a true
“prank” or a demonstration of power is not clear. Hockin’s personal assessment was that it related
to trust.

5.5. Orca Greeting Rituals

The greeting ritual is a form of focused attention following an absence. Most people have likely
experienced the greeting rituals of a family dog or cat. Such greetings appear to be a mutual validation
facilitating social cohesion.
Incidents apparently related to orca greetings of humans include: (1) During the first visit in
which Anderson directly interacted with him, Kotar was initially on the far side of the pool, scanning
the surroundings in a spy-hop position, and his gaze had briefly fallen upon Anderson, moved on, and
then snapped back on Anderson in a sort of “double-take” style. He then swam directly to Anderson,
bypassing several other visitors around the pool’s edge. Presumably, Kotar had been the other orca
in the pool on Anderson’s previous visit and had observed his interactions with Canuck. Not long
after this initial greeting, Kotar presented Anderson with a fish, as described in Section 5.7. (2) As
mentioned previously, after a several month absence, Kotar greeted Anderson by sliding on top of
him as he bent over the pool wall. This appeared to be an exuberant show of affection at their reunion
(From a private communication with Howard Garrett, a veteran orca observer and co-founder of The
Orca Network, when asked whether orcas have a behavior equivalent to human hugs, (January 2016),
“I think orcas do the equivalent of hugs. They make a lot of body contact almost constantly. The pattern
seen most often is to swim side by side within touching range, usually two at a time but sometimes
four or five may join them swimming abreast, probably touching their pec fins, as if holding hands. I’d
say the answer is a resounding yes, and I don’t think it’s a stretch to say they’re showing affection.”).

5.6. Empathy
Some orca behaviors seemed suggestive of empathy. There are various types of empathy based in
separate neuroanatomies and which are separately activated [30]:

• Cognitive empathy has components of:

 Cognitive ToM which relates to taking the perspective of another.

 Affective ToM which relates to comprehending feelings in another.

• Affective empathy involves internalizing and mirroring the feelings of another.

Three examples below may provide evidence of empathy on the part of the orcas:
(1) Hockins describes an incident in which Kotar seemed to perform a test of human frailty on
him. At first, Kotar bit down hard enough on Hockins to induce pain, and Hockins signaled Kotar to
stop. Kotar eased the bite pressure but did not release Hockins. Then Kotar slowly reapplied the bite
pressure. When it reached the limit of comfort, Hockins repeated the stop signal. Kotar let Hockins go,
but (as interpreted by Hockins) registered surprise at the difference between the two bite pressures.
This could be interpreted as reflecting cognitive ToM, affective ToM, and possibly affective empathy.
Hockins notes that thereafter, none of the other orcas in the pool ever bit down harder than this level
that Kotar established, although none of the other orcas performed this sort of test on Hockins.
(2) The authors were first drawn to the orcas in part by a desire to bond with a “fellow being”,
and quickly learned that feeding them fish from the trays sold at the pool was not an effective way to
achieve this. Many visitors did feed the orcas fish, and it was the authors’ impression that the orcas
were in a moderately hungry state, at least while the pool was open to the public, as they readily
accepted and ate fish from most visitors. Typically, the orcas would stay with most visitors just long
enough to accept fish, and then move along to the next visitor. However, the orcas seemed to spend
longer periods of time interacting with people who did not feed them. The authors interpret this
Animals 2016, 6, 49 7 of 16

as an effort on the orcas’ behalf to interact with certain humans at a level of friendship (as defined
in Section 3), i.e., maintaining physical proximity, displaying affectionate contact and vocalization,
and mutual focused attention. This could be a reflection of affective ToM (comprehending feelings in
another—in this case feelings of affection directed at the orcas by humans).
(3) Hargrove [15] (pp. 141–142) describes an accident during a performance with Takara, the
daughter of Kasatka and Kotar. Immediately after the accident, Takara proceeded to use echolocation
throughout his body in a way he had not experienced before. Then, Takara very gently pushed him to
the edge of the pool in a way she had never been trained to do. Hargrove was later discovered to have
broken ribs and soft tissue damage. This could be interpreted as reflecting cognitive ToM, affective
ToM, and possibly affective empathy.

5.7. Adaptation of Natural Behavior to Orca/Human Interactions

When the orca Kotar first met Anderson and Larrabee, he presented them with fish.
Resident ecotype orcas share food within their pods [31], and Keiko, a North Atlantic ecotype, was
reported to return fish to his rehabilitators when he was being re-introduced to catching live fish [32]
(p. 241). Kotar’s act seemed symbolic and appeared to adapt a natural behavior to a novel situation
with related, albeit modified, meaning.

5.8. Cognitive Complexity

The orcas could quickly and smoothly switch between multiple threads of mental activity, as
described in the examples below: (1) As observed by Anderson and Hockins, sometimes Kotar would
interact with them for several minutes, then swim around the pool perimeter in search of offered fish,
and then return for more non-food related interaction. He would repeat this cycle many times. On his
first meeting with Anderson, Kotar saved the last fish from a circuit of the pool and presented it to
Anderson. He repeated this behavior until Anderson understood the fish was a gift and accepted
it; (2) When Hockins was being tugged on simultaneously by Kotar and Kasatka, this demonstrated
coordinated actions between themselves while simultaneously interacting with a human; (3) Similarly,
these two orcas alternately beaching themselves to request a rubdown but then not allowing Waayers
to touch them suggests similar mental coordination.
Coordinated teamwork has been well documented and might be expected from a social predatory
species such as the orca [33], and it appears that orcas can hold multiple behavioral contexts in mind
simultaneously and readily switch their focus between them. Likewise, they can execute behaviors
involving at least three individuals, including multiple species.

6. Pod Level Communications

The petting pool orcas were all captured in near coastal waters off southern Iceland in two
successive years. It appears that Katina, Kasatka, and Kotar may have been captured on the same
day by the same boat and crew and possibly were from the same pod. Some of the records on this
are unclear. When the petting pool orcas became performers, they shared a tank with an orca named
Kenau, who was captured one year prior, also off Iceland. Winston, another performing whale, was
a Resident ecotype captured off the U.S. state of Washington, and so was the only non-Icelandic orca
in contact with the petting pool orcas when they became performers.
The Icelandic orcas could have reasonably had prior cultural commonality as well as a not too
distant familial relationship, particularly Katina, Kasatka, and Kotar. To whatever extent orcas are able
to communicate, there is a good chance they had at least related dialects.
There was a degree of coherence in the behavior of these orcas that would seem to indicate they
were sharing information, some of which was fairly complex. Some instances of directly coordinated
behavior have already been noted as in Kasatka and Kotar simultaneously pulling Hockins toward the
pool and alternately enticing Waayers for a rubdown.
Animals 2016, 6, 49 8 of 16

Hockins noted that after Kotar performed a bite pressure test on him, no orca ever bit down
harder than the limit Kotar had established as acceptable. Anderson can confirm that the three orcas
who mouthed him all applied a uniformly firm but not painful pressure. As best as he can reconstruct,
Anderson’s first such experience happened in the same month as Kotar’s test on Hockins but he cannot
definitively say which experience occurred first.
Hargrove reported Kasatka, who was clearly the dominant orca in the “pod” when he worked
with her, according to his interpretation of the events: (1) communicating with another orca that she
was not visually able to see, causing that orca to reject a fish reward; and (2) inducing another orca that
had been given a salmon to pass the salmon to Kasatka through a gate [15] (p. 95). He did not report
a mechanism of communication (for example, prior vocalization).

7. Subsequent Orca Aggression

A substantial minority of SeaWorld orcas have responded aggressively towards their trainers and
other staff members. Recorded incidents include such behaviors as:

• Pushing trainers about in the water

• Mouthing, sometimes to the extent of leaving permanent bite marks, and even breaking bones
• Lunging at staff who approached the water
• Pulling trainers into the water and holding them under

The petting pool orcas and some of their offspring exhibited such aggressive incidents at
a noticeably higher rate than any other grouping of incident prone orcas. The next highest rate
of such incidents occurs in the group of orcas who were tank mates of the petting pool orcas during the
time of visitor friendships. These tank mates were full time performers who had previously completed
initial training. There are no indications that they had spent time in the petting pool. The petting pool
orcas trained alongside them and did some initial public performances with them. An examination of
this history potentially provides further insight into orca social cognition.

7.1. Post Petting Pool History

When these petting pool orcas later completed performer training, the unstructured interactions
with human friends stopped. The orcas were shipped among the various SeaWorld facilities and
lived the lives of full time performers. Within a few years, these orcas started to become aggressive.
Hargrove [15] (p. 58) says that Kasatka was considered the most dangerous whale at SeaWorld during
water work. Interestingly, Waayers observed that Kasatka was more “snappish” and more prone to
being “moody” than the other petting pool orcas that she encountered, even in the pre-training days.
Kasatka never inflicted physical harm during the petting pool days, though, as far as the authors know.
Ultimately, these orcas became a fundamental part of a history that has significantly impacted public
views in the U.S. on orca captivity. Bekoff, Anderson, Waayers, and other orca friends discussed this in
a Psychology Today article [34], and on the authors’ website.
In early 2013, a documentary titled “Blackfish” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in
Park City, Utah, USA. It was subsequently purchased by Cable Network News and after some
limited audience showings, it was publicly aired in late 2013 and has been shown many times since.
Blackfish primarily focuses on the story of an orca named Tilikum who killed SeaWorld trainer
Dawn Brancheau in 2010. Tilikum had previously been involved in the deaths of two other humans.
Blackfish reviews some of the history of orca captivity and Tilikum’s earlier life at a marine park named
Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia, Canada. All this is presented against the backdrop of other
aggressive human-orca and orca-on-orca incidents at SeaWorld. SeaWorld contends that Blackfish
conveys falsehoods and employs emotional manipulation techniques. These differing perspectives
have polarized public opinion regarding orca captivity.
Similar to an actual historical investigation, one is forced to utilize the surviving documentation
and testimonies of the events to attempt to construct a rational account. As the authors do not have
Animals 2016, 6, 49 9 of 16

original source documentation, they have had to depend in some cases on the work of others. The orca
incident data used in the following is based on the work of Stephan Jacobs [35]. He has compiled
a database of official reports and local media articles at the time of the incidents, as well as private
communications. While many reports are specific as to the date, some are remembrances of a number of
incidents over a range of years. It is likely that there were additional unrecorded incidents. Jacobs was
a volunteer observer of Resident and Bigg’s/Transient orcas and is mentioned in Death at SeaWorld [32] (p. 356).
As of this writing in May 2016 and since their founding in 1964, SeaWorld has owned 65 orcas of
whom 29 (45%) have been involved in one or more published aggressive incidents. A small number of
orcas account for the greatest number of incidents. The orcas with greater numbers of incidents appear
to fall into five recognizable groups by background and/or ancestry. Having divided a small number
of orcas into these groups, they are so few in number that no statistical significance can be claimed,
only interesting tendencies. Table 1 summarizes this incident data by group. Supplementary Materials
Section S1 lists by name the orcas constituting each group and the number of incidents for each orca.

Table 1. Summary of orca incidents by group.

Average Incidents Per Number in Group Percent

Orca */Average Group with Incidents/All with
Incidents Per Orca ** Orcas in Group Incidents
7.57/3.31 Petting Pool Orcas and Offspring 7/16 44%
3.67/2.20 Tank Mates and Offspring 3/5 60%
3.50/3.50 Orcas originally at Marineland 2/2 100%
2.40/1.50 Sealand Orcas and Offspring 5/8 62%
2.00/0.67 Joint Offspring of Tilikum and Petting Pool Orcas 4/12 33%
1.62/0.59 Orcas with no Known Relationships 8/22 38%
* Only including orcas with incidents; ** For all orcas in the group with and without incidents.

Summing the SeaWorld orca incident data by year reveals another interesting aspect: there are no
published incidents during the petting pool years (1979 and 1980) or the following two years. Of the
six incidents in 1983 and 1984, four are attributed to the petting pool orca Kandu 5 and one to tank
mate Kenau. See Figure 1 below (Kandu 5 was captured in the same year as Canuck. Kandu 5 was
a tank mate who had likely been a petting pool orca prior to the authors’ meeting the other four petting
pool orcas).

SeaWorld Orca Annual Incidents

7
Number of Incidents

6
5
4
3
2
1
0
1965
1968
1971
1974
1977
1980
1983
1986
1989
1992
1995
1998
2001
2004
2007
2010
2013

Year

Known Dates Approximate Dates

Figure 1. SeaWorld orca annual incidents (Some notes: The orange bars are placeholders representing
non-specific entries in the database; Incidents include all those attributed to orcas that were at other
oceanaria prior to arrival at SeaWorld, e.g., Tilikum’s two incidents prior to his acquisition by SeaWorld).
Animals 2016, 6, 49 10 of 16

About 55% of all of SeaWorld’s orcas have no published aggressive incidents. Of those with
no incidents, nine lived beyond puberty and into at least early adulthood. An additional 15 were
within the age bounds of puberty. Table 2 summarizes this information. Supplementary Materials
Section S2 lists all these orcas by name, sex, and age. It also defines the age ranges used to define the
maturity categories.

Table 2. Orcas with no reported incidents.

Sex Maturity Number in Group

M Sexually Mature 3
F Sexually Mature 6
M In Puberty 4
F In Puberty 11
M Pre-puberty 5
F Pre-Puberty 7

By comparison, almost all of SeaWorld’s orcas with aggression lived to be sexually mature adults,
i.e., 26 mature, 2 in puberty, and 1 pre-puberty. Table 3 summarizes this information. Supplementary
Materials Section S3 lists all these orcas by name, sex, age, and number of incidents, with age categories
for the start of puberty and sexual maturity per [36–38].

Table 3. Orcas with reported incidents.

Sex Maturity Number in Group

M Sexually Mature 13
F Sexually Mature 13
M In Puberty 0
F In Puberty 2
M Pre-puberty 0
F Pre-Puberty 1

It should be noted that some orcas have recorded aggressive incidents starting in pre-puberty:
Kayla, Keto, Orkid, Tilikum, and Taku. Kandu 5 had two recorded incidents at the very nominal
beginning of puberty. Other than Tilikum, these orcas are all petting pool orcas or their offspring, or
tank mate offspring, or joint Tilikum-petting pool offspring.
Thus 26 (28) orcas with incidents lived to maturity (mature + in-puberty), while 9 (24) orcas
without incidents lived to maturity (mature + in-puberty). This supports a possible correlation of
orca aggression to adult versus juvenile behavior and to captive living environment. However, these
correlations do not appear as strong as the correlation to having experienced unstructured interactions
with visitors. The resultant aggression could still result from the combination of factors.
Of additional note, Kona 2 was captured off Iceland along with Kandu 5 and Canuck 2. She was
processed with them prior to transfer to SeaWorld; however, she was instead sent to the Orlando
SeaWorld facility for training. The same was true of Kahana. She was captured with Katina, Kasatka,
and Kotar. She too was sent to Orlando for training.
While it is possible to discover a number of independent references to the San Diego orcas
interacting with visitors, the authors have not been able to discover any reference to such a practice
at Orlando. It is fairly certain that Kona 2 and Kahana did not have the opportunity to develop
unstructured relationships with visiting humans. Kona 2 and Kahana both died post-puberty with
no published aggressive incidents in spite of having shared the same capture and initial handling.
Their cases demonstrate the contrapositive.
Animals 2016, 6, 49 11 of 16

7.2. Changes To Deceptive Behavior

Hargrove [15] notes that Orkid would solicit contact with a trainer, and then strike out or grab the
trainer (p. 92), or in general that orcas can quietly plot revenge, waiting the right moment to act (p. 98).
These are forms of deception with apparent intent, so orcas clearly have the cognitive capacity for
deception; however, as with aggression, the authors did not experience orca deception during the time
of friendship. This would appear to be another facet of the change that occurred.

7.3. Possible Causation of the Behavioral Changes

Latham and Mason [39] examined the development of stereotypical behaviors in caged animals that
were initially reared in an enriched environment, and were then removed to a standard environment.
They found two divergent responses in that loss of enrichment led either to increased or to decreased
development of stereotypical behaviors. They advance a “Frustration Hypothesis” to explain the
former and a “Protection Hypothesis” to explain the latter. Regardless of the underlying cause they
recommend caution against providing early enrichment if lifelong enrichment cannot be guaranteed.
The question then arises in the case of the petting pool orcas as to what the particular enrichment
might have been. The presence of similar behavior in the offspring and tank mates of the former group of
orcas potentially indicate cultural transmission of enrichments or the knowledge that they once existed.
Alternatively, increased exposure to humans at a young age may have reduced wariness of orcas
around humans at later times in their lives. If this were the case, it would apply to first generation
orcas exposed to enrichment, and possibly second generation orcas if this reduction in wariness was
culturally transmitted.

8. Discussion
Much of the public and academic discussion about animal welfare has centered on the ethical
concerns that arise when humans cause suffering to sentient beings. In the case of delphinids,
additional questions arise regarding the level of ethical considerations humans owe to those animals
closest to humans in cognitive complexity and capacity [40].
A significant impediment resides in the fact that humans and delphinids have distantly separated
evolutionary histories. While the adaptive evolutionary logic of social life was common to both,
the evolutionary solutions were often unique, especially in that the solutions were subject to the
peculiarities of terrestrial versus marine environments.
Marino [8] discusses the evolution of intelligence by comparing primates and cetaceans. She notes
their distantly separated evolutionary lines, and that being mammals, they share subcortical
neuroanatomy but are radically divergent in cortical development. She notes striking convergence
in a number of behavioral and social complexity realms, and also notes that it is still to be seen
whether such convergence exists at more abstract levels, such as, introspection, mental state attribution,
deception, moral judgment, etc.
The Encephalization Quotient (EQ) provides one measure of intelligence. The Appendix A
discusses EQ and has a table showing EQ for orcas and various other mammals, including chimpanzees.
Consistent with Marino’s note on shared mammalian subcortical neuroanatomy, the authors of this
paper found orcas quite emotionally familiar, as orcas seem to have done with humans. Additionally,
the authors have begun addressing Marino’s question on those more abstract levels as described
above with orcas. The quest to objectively compare delphinid cognitive complexity and capacity (or
“intelligence”) to that in humans is however made difficult by the non-overlap of capabilities that
humans consider to be benchmarks of intelligence.

8.1. Common Theory of Mind Scenarios and Delphinids

Often, comparisons of human and non-human ToM abilities involve false beliefs; e.g., deceptive
behaviors in chimpanzees regarding the location of some food item and the potential knowledge of a
Animals 2016, 6, 49 12 of 16

competitor regarding that food [28]. Another common scenario is caching and retrieval of food items
by scrub jays demonstrating knowledge of a competitor’s mental representations [41]. In both cases,
the visual lines of sight of subject and competitor are often a significant consideration.
Orcas appear to practice only low-level deception, as in silent hunting by Bigg’s orcas. The authors’
only observations of deception in orcas related to their tendency towards humorous pranks.
Orcas practice food sharing among themselves. They do not cache food or other objects. They do
not accumulate or carry about objects, except very temporarily in their mouths. As apex predators,
they have little necessary concern about other species stealing their food.
Orcas have excellent eyesight, but much of their lives are spent in murky waters and sometimes at
depths where lighting is greatly reduced. They are highly dependent on echolocation, a sensory mode
that humans scarcely possess [42]. The physical properties of underwater acoustics make it feasible
that orcas possess a sense of something like three-dimensional sonograms. Of course we do not know
what their sensory perception might actually look like.
Of note, the acoustic pulses of echolocation pass through solid objects that would be opaque
to light. The echoes occur at material boundaries where the properties of acoustic transport change.
Some acoustic energy is reflected while other energy continues to propagate through the new material.
Unlike humans, orcas have two modes of perception with quite different characteristics regarding
whether an object would be hidden behind another. Any comparison of ToM and other complex
cognitive abilities in humans and orcas needs to consider that behaviors or environmental factors
critical to one species might be moot to the other.

8.2. Thoughts on Future Study of Orca Cognition

Dolphins have been studied since the 1960s but certainly less extensively than chimpanzees.
Their physically impressive cousins, orcas, have been even less studied.
As explored earlier in this paper, orcas and humans have significant overlaps in emotion and social
cognition. Humans and orcas can develop friendships. While the friendships developed in 1979–1980
were unstructured, they still enabled significant insights into orca social cognition. If human-orca
friendships were approached in a more integrated fashion, for instance, a cultural immersion such as
Jane Goodall experienced with chimpanzees, it is possible that far more could be learned.
SeaWorld announced in March 2016 that it would cease breeding its orcas and no longer have
orcas performing in theatrical shows. SeaWorld stated in a press release, “As society’s understanding
of orcas continues to change, SeaWorld is changing with it”. Since the release of Blackfish and facing
a continuing campaign by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), SeaWorld’s attendance
and stock prices have been suffering.
As two of the original petting pool orcas still survive, potential friendships could be revived, and
those two orcas could form the basis for extending the friendships to other orcas. The authors suggest
that a resumption of treating the orcas with basic respect and rebuilding trust are necessary first steps.
Establishing communications with delphinids in some form of common language would be
a fundamental breakthrough. Direct human-delphinid communications could lead to more popular
acceptance of delphinids as deserving moral consideration, more than any other revelation. Researchers
have been seeking this goal since the 1960s. While advances have been made, incontrovertible results
have been elusive.
The authors suggest that achieving communication breakthroughs could well depend on thinking
about how information might be encoded utilizing the physically possible means available to
delphinids. Humans encode speech on a single channel that is amplitude and frequency modulated.
Information is presented sequentially such that a syntax is required to determine the meaning of word
sequences, e.g., for English: subject, verb, and object.
Delphinids have at least three channels. They have two phonic lips that can generate different
sound types either completely independently, e.g., whistles and clicks, or in phase conjunction with
each other [43] (pp. 302–323). A third channel exists in that the acoustic energy is focused within
Animals 2016, 6, 49 13 of 16

a steerable beam of about a 10◦ width. Hargrove reported that he could feel Takara’s echolocation
pulses within his body [15] (p. 141). A dolphin’s facial area is highly innervated, about equivalent to
human fingertips [44]. This is believed to be an aid in locating objects close to their mouths by pressure
waves in the water, as in catching fish. The authors suggest it would be worthwhile to investigate
whether the steerable acoustic beam of one dolphin impinging on the facial area of another dolphin
might be used to encode and transfer information.
Dolphin whistles have already been associated with identities [45]. The authors suggest the
possibility that different parts of a delphinid “sentence” could be transmitted in parallel on the
different physically available channels. This would obviate the need for some of the syntactic rules
humans require to decode their purely sequential verbal expressions.
The principal reason humans have not succeeded in understanding delphinid communications
during the preceding 50 years may relate less to the technology applied or that is available, but more
to the human tendency to limit thinking to particularly human solutions. Perhaps achieving better
understanding of the so familiar yet so alien orca could help free humans of this anthropocentric tendency.

9. Conclusions
In various parts of the world, human-orca relations have been and continue to be dominated
by abusive and exploitative capture, confinement and training methods, and by the use of orcas
in entertainment programs within oceanaria. The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society [46]
notes that captive orcas are confined within oceanaria in Argentina, Canada, China, France, Japan,
Russia, Spain, and the United States. Russia also has an active orca capture industry. SeaWorld’s recent
announcements of the cessation of captive orca breeding and the use of orcas in theatrical performances
are promising. However, the orca Lolita, also called Tokitae, is still a performing captive at the Miami
Seaquarium in the United States. This is in spite of Lolita being a Southern Resident orca, an officially
recognized endangered ecotype.
In light of these facts, the significant cognitive capabilities of orcas clearly indicated by the
experiences of ourselves and others are of profound ethical weight. We would do well to appreciate
not only that orcas and dolphins are the closest non-humans to ourselves in EQ (and some mental
attributes similar to humans), but also that the limits of their intelligence are not yet clearly defined.
We would be similarly wise to appreciate that orcas’ rise to intelligence preceded that of modern
humans by more than twice the time that our own species has existed. In fact, orcas were very likely
among the most dominant predators in the world’s oceans, before Homo sapiens even left Africa.
Given these insights, we can no longer ethically continue to treat these remarkable creatures as we
have done. Instead, a fundamental refocusing of our relationships with orcas is warranted, in favor of
a new era characterized by mutual friendship, understanding, and much greater appreciation of these
remarkable creatures than has been the case to date.

Supplementary Materials: The following are available online at www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/6/8/49/s1,

Section S1: Orca Relationships and Aggressive Incidents, Section S2: Age Distribution of Orcas with No Published
Incidents, Section S3: Age Distribution of Orcas with Published Incidents.
Acknowledgments: Open access publication funds were received from the University of Winchester. No other
funding has been received to support this work. We wish to thank our anonymous reviewers for their
encouragement to publish this paper and for their criticisms that helped in achieving a substantive result.
Author Contributions: Robert Anderson was the principal author, although many of the ideas presented
are further developments of prior correspondence and joint authorship on earlier work with Robyn Waayers.
Robyn Waayers provided knowledge from her own orca experiences, as well as reviewing and editing as the
article progressed. Robyn Waayers also provided the biologist viewpoint in the discussion. Andrew Knight
provided critical contributions to the manuscript, particularly those concerning animal welfare and ethics.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Animals 2016, 6, 49 14 of 16

Abbreviations
The following abbreviations are used in this manuscript:
DOAJ Directory of open access journals
EQ Encephalization Quotient
F1 First generation descendant
F2 Second generation descendant
MDPI Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
RN Royal Navy
ToM Theory of Mind
UK United Kingdom
USA United States of America

Appendix A
Encephalization quotient (EQ) attempts to quantify mammalian intelligence with a single numeric
comparative value. EQ is a unitless number that is the ratio of actual brain mass to an estimated brain
mass. The estimated brain mass is calculated using a non-linear relationship derived from an empirical
fit to the data of a sample group of mammals. Some published numbers are shown in Table A1.

Table A1. Encephalization quotient. Data are from Roth and Dicke [47] except for orcas. The lower
orca EQ is from Marino [48], and the higher orca EQ is from Woods and Evans [49].

Encephalization Quotient Mammal

7.4 to 7.8 Human
5.3 Bottlenose Dolphin
2.57 to 2.9 Orca
2.2 to 2.5 Chimpanzee
1.3 Elephant
0.9 Horse

By this measure, dolphins and orcas are among the closest if not the closest mammals to humans
in intelligence. Wood and Evans [49] give an EQ of 5.9 for the bottlenose dolphin and note that
the number would be even higher if blubber were accounted for. Blubber adds to body mass but
doesn’t require much neural capacity to manage. They also state that for orcas, the computed EQ is
undoubtedly too low and give rationale of this assessment. Marino [50] makes a similar statement in
regards to sperm and baleen whales (Mysticiti), i.e., that the scaling rules regarding brain and body
size that underlie EQ do not hold. The elephant, which can pass the mirror test and is generally held
to be quite intelligent, has an EQ of 1.3.
The scaling rule changes for mammals with body masses greater than 1000 kg. The largest male
orcas have mass upwards of 10,000 kg. A regression based solely on mammals in excess of 1000 kg
could provide a new scaling rule, but the determining data set would be small. Perhaps that data set
could be extended using brain and body mass estimates from the skeletal remains of extinct Pleistocene
and Pliocene megafauna.
Authors Anderson and Waayers had experiences interacting with both orcas and bottlenose
dolphins. Although there were behavioral and cultural differences, nothing stood out as indicating
one or the other was more intelligent. In contrast, Anderson and Waayers each noted that the pilot
whale who shared the pool with the orcas was not as aware of the need to be gentle with humans.
Another factor of orca intelligence is that orcas are born precocious. Some orcas have survived
entirely by themselves at less than two years of age (A Southern Resident orca designated L-98 was
born in September 1999 but disappeared and was thought dead. A solitary calf was observed in the
summer of 2001 in Nootka Sound off Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada and by the fall of
2001 had been identified as L-98. This orca, popularly called Luna, attempted to socialize with humans,
which was problematic since under Canadian law such fraternization was illegal. L-98 survived on his
Animals 2016, 6, 49 15 of 16

own until 2006 when he was accidentally killed by a tugboat [51]. Other such cases are known, e.g.,
A-73 “Springer”). Even though the petting pool orcas were between two and five years of age, their
mental maturity appeared roughly equivalent to a human at the age of mid-to-late teens.

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 Containers and Flows
Investigating systems of spatial construction in an aquarium

by Benjamin Kou

Bachelor of Arts
Clark University, Worcester MA 1993

Submitted to the Department of Architecture in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree Master of Architecture at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

abstract
This thesis focuses on the design of an aquarium on the waterfront of Victoria
Harbor in Hong Kong. The aquarium serves as a public 'event'which aims to
educate and inform the visitor about regional environmental conditions and their
effects on global ecological systems. The design incorporates the notion of 'in-
formation flows,'addressing the relationship between the movement of the visi-tor
through the architectural space and the movement of information sustained by
the architecture. Acrylic technologies which function as the threshold be-tween
water and air, provide the opportunity to investigate the way in which information
is layered and disseminated in this specific program.

The aquarium aims at reconciliation between the harbor front development

and the water'sedge, becoming the physical filter between the aquatic
ecosystem and the civic community. If we consider the aquarium building
type as a 'living machine' (i.e., one that needs to sustain life), it can then be
described as having a symbiotic relationship with the organisms it sustains.
The aquarium can then be condsidered as a 'container'or sampling of the
greater global aquatic ecosys-tem, encapsulated by aflowing membrane of
circulation reciprocating with Hong Kong'surban fabric.

The thesis proposes that architectural space can be (re)defined at the

interface between nature, technology and the body.

thesis supervisor:
Ann M. Pendleton-Jullian,
Associate Professor of Architecture MIT
Roger Williams University
DOCS@RWU
School of Architecture, Art, and Historic
Architecture Theses Preservation Theses

1-1-2009

Newport Aquarium Oceanic

Research and Discovery Center: to
Further Our Knowledge of the Ocean
Steven R. Toohey
Roger Williams University, srtoohey@gamil.com

Follow this and additional works at: http://docs.rwu.edu/archthese

Part of the Architecture Commons

Recommended Citation
Toohey, Steven R., "Newport Aquarium Oceanic Research and Discovery Center: to Further Our Knowledge of the Ocean" (2009).
Architecture Theses. Paper 29.
http://docs.rwu.edu/archthese/29
Introduction:

Aquaria are an important part of today’s society. They give the public a
chance learn and see parts of the largest part of this planet, the ocean. The
depths of the ocean are an unknown place even to the most adventurous
people. The ocean is feared by many people because of exaggerated movies
and aquaphobia. There are many myths surrounding oceans that steer people
away, when the ocean has the possibilities of supporting sustainable
programs that would allow this planet to “breathe” cleaner and heal.

Design with the child in mind is very important. Children should be given the
opportunity to learn early and find a love for the ocean and develop the
desire to explore it. This building will have learning areas throughout the
aquarium along with classrooms for hands on learning, which should enable
these goals to be met.

It will be important for this building must connect to the ocean itself. This
will allow people to see into the real ocean along with the controlled tanks.
Bringing people outside of the building into the designed landscapes will allow
them to experience open ocean tanks where fish can come an go as they
please.

The low levels of light that are required in Aquaria give the possibility of
directing and orienting people through light. Key areas and passage ways will
be highlighted directing the visitor with the path they should follow.

19
Project statement:

This project is to design an Aquarium building both for the public and for
researchers. There will be connections to the ocean visibly for the public and
physically by docks and piers for the researchers. The building needs to tie
into the landscape visually and will be using as many sustainable techniques
as possible to support the building. A building that teaches how to save and
preserve this planet should help the cause by creating its own power.

- Sustainability -

- Learning -

- 360 viewing of “tanks” -

- Ability to use light as a guide -

20
Sustainability

Sustainability defined by the US environmental Protection Agency is “meeting the

needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs” - http://www.epa.gov/Sustainability/

Sustainability today is a very important and necessary mind set to have. Building
should be designed with sustainable methods, materials and technologies from the
beginning of the design.

The American Institute of Architecture states that:

“The AIA recognizes a growing body of evidence that demonstrates current planning,
design, construction, and real estate practices contribute to patterns of resource
consumption that seriously jeopardize the future of the Earth’s population. Architects
need to accept responsibility for their role in creating the built environment and,
consequently, believe we must alter our profession’s actions and encourage our
clients and the entire design and construction industry to join with us to change the
course of the planet’s future.”

The AIA knows that sustainable methods and technologies are expensive and clients
usually tend to value engineer them out fi rst because it takes a long time to pay
off. But prices are coming down and technologies are easier to adapt into buildings.
Architects are very crucial in this fi eld because they are required to inform their
clients about what is sustainable and what is not.

Sustainability can be as easy as to use local materials. The embedded energy in

materials that come from far away use more energy to transport which burns fossil
fuels and pollutes the environment. The location of this site will give the ability to
bring materials by water, and use the sand from the bottom of the ocean to mix
with the cement.

Multiple sustainable technologies should be utilized and combined to create the

“greenest” building possible. Aquaria are very a very high demand for energy
because of the life support systems needed to sustain life for the fi sh. The water
from the ocean will be pumped into the building, cleaned, used and sent back into
the bay cleaner then when it came in. Transparent photovoltaics will be used on
the southern facing glass capturing energy without taking away view of the
harbor. Solar hot water heaters will provide the heat for the HVAC system to warm
the air for the customers. Geothermal heat pumps will bring warm water to help
raise the temperature for the HVAC.

As new technologies are created and perfected they will be researched and will
have the possibility of being integrated into the project.

21
Learning

The Smithsonian states that “The oceans cover 71 percent of the Earth’s surface and
contain 97 percent of the Earth’s water.”
-http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/education_oceanographic_facts.
html
This is an enormous amount of the planet that we do not inhabit. Many people have
no interest in ever going to see the ocean let alone go into its depths.

Children have unlimited amounts of curiosity and this Aq uarium will attempt to fill
some of it with information about the sea. There will be touch tanks situated
throughout the aquarium which will give children of all ages the chance to reach
in a touch a fi sh. They will watch how it swims very up close and have someone
talk to them about it while they are doing it. Along with this there will be places
for demonstrations on how fish eat and what they eat.

The classrooms will have day, evening and night classes where people can come
and learn from a variety of subject to do with the ocean. Stations will be set up to
allow people see how sea water is made and filtered, giving them the chance to try
the process their selves.

Learning platforms and docks will bring children out of the building to collect samples
and go on trips into the ocean. The docks will have close proximity to the classrooms
so they will be able to bring their fi ndings back to the classroom to experiment or
talk about.

The rooms will have large open fl oor plans to allow places for the children to sleep
overnight and be in the aquarium alone with just their teachers. This will allow them
to feel that the aquarium is their place allowing them to feel more connected with
their aquatic friends.

Learning not only refers to children but also the researchers who will study and
test the ocean for unlimited possibilities. They will have the tools to test better
methods of cleaning and filtering the sea water, learn new ways to deal with carbon
dioxide by growing phytoplankton to convert it to oxygen, and other sustainable
and benefi cial experiments for the ocean. The research facility will be closely linked
to the classrooms to allow the children to learn from the people investigating the
experiments not just from a text book.

22
360 viewing of “tanks”

Aquaria give people the chance to be under the water with out getting wet, with no
fear of the shark swimming above your head. Tunnels through tanks let the visitor be
submerged and surrounded by water on all sides. Technologies in glass and acrylics
allow three hundred and sixty degrees of viewing possibilities. A tunnel through the
middle of a tank with a glass fl oor, roof and walls would be an amazing experience for
anyone. Fish swimming above, below and right next to you would give the feeling of
“swimming with the fi sh” but in a safe way with no fear of death.

Large walls of glass will allow visitors to get even deeper in the water and make
them want to sit back and watch the fi sh swim and interact just like they would a
movie at home. An area such as this would have seating to allow interaction between
people to spark conversations.

23
Ability to use light as a guide

Lighting is a strong guiding device that if used properly can intrigue people and cause
them to move towards it. Aquaria have great opportunity to have vastly different
levels of light within the building. The fi sh require very dim lighting to replicate their
underwater environment but people require much more light then this. This
difference in lighting conditions is a diffi cult task for the architect to overcome. This
difference gives the ability to have certain areas of the building to be brighter to
draw the visitors to locations designed by the architect.

There are many techniques that can be used when lighting is concerned.

Spotlighting can point out a passageway that the visitor should move towards. A
very bright area in a dark room will point out the next step in the tour of the
aquarium. This technique can be easily done with one Leeko, a stationary, focus
adjustable light, with different color gels or diffusion to soften the beam. These are
very versatile lights that are easily controlled and used.

LED (Light Emitting Diode) lighting along the floor will entice people follow it like the
white line along the side of the a road. Small detail lights like this emit an entice
amount of light very close to the source but do not light the room. The room will
stay dark but the designed path will shine.

Backlighting certain walls or panels will make them glow and intrigue the visitor.
Backli ghting can be done with many different types of lights usually with fresnel
type lights because of their warm glow with gels to change their colors.

Glowing neon will form a visual guide along a wall. The tubes can be bent in
interesting shapes or around walls. They come in one specific color that has to be
chosen when purchasing.

Black lights will excite children as they watch their clothes glow.

Moving Head lights can give amazing shows or give a feeling of being underwater
with moving gobo’s (pieces of metal in front of the light to change the shape of
the beam). These lights can easily change colors and positions with relatively
simple controls.

24
Association of Zoos and Aquariums:

The Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA; previously American Zoo and
Aquarium Association, and originally American Association of Zoological
Parks and Aquariums (AAZPA)) is a nonprofi t organization dedicated to the
advancement of zoos and aquariums in the areas of conservation, education,
science, and recreation. The vision statement of the organization is:

• The AZA uses its institution accreditation, animal care initiatives, education
& conservation programs, collaborative research and political lobbying in
order to achieve this goal.
• The AZA serves as an accrediting body for zoos and aquariums and
ensures that accredited facilities meet higher standards of animal care than
are required by law. There are over 200 AZA accredited institutions. Member
institutions are evaluated every fi ve years in order to ensure AZA standards
are met and to maintain AZA accreditation.
• The Association also facilitates Species Survival Plans, which are plans
for the captive management of genetically diverse populations of
various endangered species.

The AZA was founded in 1924 and started as the American Association
of Zoological Parks and Aquariums. The organization was formed to
provide a professional forum for zoo officials to discuss their animals. In
1971, the AAZPA gained independent status and began to work towards
animal conservation.
Aquariums: Historical background

The earliest known aquarists were the Sumerians, who kept fi shes in artifi cial
ponds at least 4,500 years ago; records of fi sh keeping also date from ancient
Egypt and Assyria. The Chinese, who raised carp for food as early as 1000
bc, were probably the fi rst to breed fi sh with any degree of success. Their
selective breeding of ornamental goldfish was later introduced to Japan, where
the breeding of ornamental carp was perfected. The ancient Romans, who
kept fish for food and entertainment, were the first known marine aquarists;
they constructed ponds that were supplied with fresh seawater from the
ocean. Although goldfi sh were successfully kept in glass vessels in England
during the middle 1700s, aquarium keeping did not become well established
until the relationship between oxygen, animals, and plants became known a
century later.

By 1850 the keeping of fi shes, amphibians, and reptiles had become useful in
the study of nature. It was in the works of Philip Gosse, a British naturalist,
which the term aquarium fi rst appeared. His work aroused increased public
interest in aquatic life. The first display aquarium was opened to the public
in 1853 at Regent’s Park in London. It was followed by aquariums in Berlin,
Naples, and Paris. P.T. Barnum, the circus entrepreneur, recognized the
commercial possibilities of living aquatic animals and, in 1856, opened the
fi rst display aquarium at the American Museum in New York City as a private
enterprise. By 1928 there were 45 public or commercial aquariums throughout
the world, but growth then slowed and few new large aquariums appeared
until after World War II.

Many of the world’s principal cities now have public aquariums as well as
commercial ones. Another category encompasses those aquariums that
serve chiefl y as research institutions. Among the best known of the latter are
those at Naples; the Oceanographic Museum of Monaco; Plymouth Marine
Laboratory, Eng.; and Scripps Institution of Oceanography, La Jolla, Calif. Still
another category includes temporary aquariums that have served as exhibits
at world’s fairs and expositions.

In 1938 the first oceanarium, or large marine aquarium, Marine land, opened
near St. Augustine, Fla., as a private enterprise; it featured a giant community
fish tank and trained dolphins. The Seaquarium, Miami, is similar. The
emphasis in this type of aquarium is on very large tanks, up to 1,000,000
gallons each, in which a great variety of fi shes is placed with no attempt to
separate them. In the formal aquarium (e.g., the Shedd Aquarium, Chicago),
the kinds and types of fishes are separated in most of the exhibits.
Aquariums: Design and architecture

The first containers specifically designed for aquatic specimens were the strictly
functional open-air tanks used by the Romans to preserve and fatten fi sh for
market. It was not until the 18th century that the importation of goldfish into
France from the Orient for aesthetic enjoyment created the demand for small
aquariums; ceramic bowls, occasionally fitted with transparent sections, were
produced. In the large public aquariums built in many European cities between
1850 and 1880, efforts were made to create the illusion that the spectator was
entering into the underwater world. More recently, the trend has been to
emphasize the natural beauty of the specimens and to make a sharp distinction
between the water and the viewing space.

Regardless of size—whether a small jar with a capacity of less than one gallon or
a huge tank with a capacity of more than 1,000,000 gallons—aquariums must be
constructed with care; many substances, especially plastics and adhesives,
nontoxic to humans, are toxic to water-breathing animals.

Glass is probably the safest basic material, although polyethylene,

polypropylene, acrylic plastics (Plexiglas), and fl uorocarbon plastics are
normally nontoxic. Fiberglass has been widely used and is nontoxic if properly
prepared. Adhesives for sealing include epoxy resins, polyvinyl chloride,
silicone rubber (except for certain colored preparations), and neoprene.
Metals are not usually used, especially in seawater, which is highly corrosive.
Stainless steel, however, has a low toxicity, and is often used, especially in
freshwater systems.

A small aquarium can be constructed entirely of glass and without supporting

frames by using silicone rubber as an adhesive. Fiberglass is probably the
most practical supporting material for all but the largest tanks since it is
lightweight, strong, does not deteriorate, and is easily fabricated into any
shape. Wood, though widely used, is subject to rot and boring organisms
and thus must be protected. Reinforced concrete, including special mixes for
seawater, is the principal supporting material used in the construction of large
aquariums.

30
Aquariums: Design and architecture

In modern aquariums tanks of a variety of sizes and shapes are often grouped
together in order to avoid the “boxes of fi sh” look that characterizes some
of the older, formal aquariums. Dry dioramas at the rear of the tank create
the illusion of distance; the tank habitat can be a natural one or one in
which fi berglass has been impregnated or painted to duplicate almost any
environment. Modern aquariums attempt to illustrate the natural environment
of the specimens displayed.

Polished plate glass, fully tempered polished plate glass, and Plexiglas are
the most commonly used glazing materials. Polished plate glass is usually
used only in small aquariums because it breaks into large pieces when it fails.
One generally accepted practice is to glaze large tanks with two or three
layers of tempered g lass so that if breakage occurs it is confi ned to one
layer. Although Plexiglas is easily scratched, it can be re-polished.

Nonmetallic or plastic-lined pumps are better than metal ones in terms of

toxicity, but stainless steel is often satisfactory. Airlift pumps (such as
those used in home aquarium subsand fi lters) move large volumes of
water when the lift pipes are of sufficient diameter.

Generally, the most effective illumination is by incandescent lamps placed

above the front glass. Fluorescent lights provide even illumination but may
over illuminate the tank walls; colored lights accentuate natural colors;
and mercury-vapor lamps encourage maximum growth of marine plants.

The introduction of some form of aquatic plant life is of practical value in an

aquarium, although the presence of plants can cause complications. Aquatic
plants consume dissolved oxygen and give off carbon dioxide; under the
influence of bright light, plants also consume carbon dioxide and give off
oxygen while engaged in photosynthesis. In turn, the waste products of the
fishes form fertilizer or food for the plants and are consumed by them. This
operates very well so long as light of a certain intensity falls on the plants—
the animals thus give off what the plants can use and vice versa. Aquariums
in which the plants and animals are believed to balance each other in the
respiratory process are generally referred to as balanced aquariums.
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom Vol 31 No 1 1952