Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium, Public aquarium in Miyagino ward, Sendai, Japan
Sendai Umino-Mori Aquarium is a two-story building in Takasago Central Park, Miyagino ward, Sendai, with about 100 tanks. Its main tank, Sparkling of Life, recreates the Sanriku offshore sea: 13 m wide, 6.5 m high and 7.5 m deep, holding 990 tonnes of water for some 25,000 creatures of 50 species. The facade is a long white block with tall glass panels and the name 仙台うみの杜水族館 in raised metal letters.
The aquarium opened on July 1, 2015 as the successor to Marinepia Matsushima Aquarium, which had operated since April 1, 1927 and closed on May 10, 2015. In 2013 six companies, among them Yokohama Hakkeijima, founded Sendai Aquarium Development Co., Ltd., which built the facility for about 6.5 billion yen. Animals and many keepers moved over from the old aquarium.
The facility presents daily performances where dolphins, sea lions and birds perform together in the Stadium Live show. This type of coordinated animal presentation has been part of Japanese aquarium culture for decades and regularly draws families from across the region.
The aquarium stands next to the Sendai Port IC of the Sendai Eastern Road, with parking for 800 cars. On foot, Nakano-Sakaemachi Station on the JR Senseki Line is about 17 minutes away and Rikuzentakata Station about 21 minutes. A shuttle bus runs from Nakano-Sakaemachi Station, and the Umimori Aquarium-mae bus stop is served by Miyako Bus and Iwate Kenpoku Bus routes.
The aquarium keeps blue sharks, a Sanriku fish used locally for kamaboko and shark fin, in a cylindrical tank apart from the main tank. A male captured in 2018 lived 873 days until December 2020, growing from 51 cm and 345 g to 114 cm and 4 kg, a rate matching wild sharks.
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