Argentario Aquarium, museum in Italy
The Argentario Aquarium, also called Acquario mediterraneo della Costa d'Argento, occupies two floors of nine exhibition rooms in Porto Santo Stefano. Its seventeen tanks, seven of them panoramic, hold about 50,000 litres of seawater and reproduce Mediterranean seabeds from the surface down to 30–50 m. The largest tank, over 4 m high and holding 20,000 litres, houses amberjacks, barracuda and a blacktip shark.
The aquarium was founded in June 2001 by local divers who wanted to share the marine life of their coast with visitors. The founders spent years gathering animals and building this facility to make the region's underwater world accessible.
The aquarium is run by Accademia Mare Ambiente, founded in July 2000 to promote and protect the marine environment. It also hosts the municipal marine biology teaching centre and a cetacean rescue centre supervised by the harbour authorities, which handles about twenty strandings of dolphins, turtles or whales each year.
The aquarium sits directly on the waterfront promenade and is easy to reach on foot, especially if you walk along the coastal street in Porto Santo Stefano. The location works well for a visit after a stroll or boat ride, since you can move easily from the water to the exhibits.
The aquarium operates a whale and dolphin rescue center, helping about 20 animals per year that wash ashore. This work shows how the facility goes beyond simple exhibits and actively protects marine wildlife.
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