Close encounter

"The Aquarium's 270-degree acrylic walk-through tunnel makes for incredible close-encounter experiences with some of the most fascinating underwater animals on the planet," says The Dubai Mall general manager Yousif Al Ali.

"A special ‘lunar-cyclic' lighting system will change the ambience of the tank depending on the time of day," he says.

"Complementing the aquarium is the Discovery Centre, an educational centre with interactive stations such as touch pools and various aquatic environments," continues Al Ali.

"Marine life has always been an integral element of the region's heritage. Also, the marvels of the ocean continue to be a delight for people all over the world. An aquarium is an attraction that appeals to everyone, breaking through regional, cultural and linguistic barriers," adds Al Ali.

Porter agrees: "There's a culture of natural history. People think heritage is art, but for people from the UAE, their heritage is the sea; we're balancing it. We're the living component of heritage here."

This is a common approach taken by all three aquariums, with a significant emphasis on celebrating the specific sea life of the oceans surrounding the UAE.

The Ambassador Lagoon at Atlantis, The Palm, for example, focuses on marine life found in the local waters of the Arabian Gulf, including Golden Trevallys, Cobias and Crescent Angel Fish.

While The Ambassador Lagoon - visible from the hotel lobby and kids' club - offers a 10m² viewing panel, guests can also travel though a maze of underground tunnels that make up The Lost Chambers, which tells the story not only of marine life, but of the myths and inventions associated with the ancient Atlanteans.

Here, guests can feel and interact with touch tanks containing starfish, pencil urchins, stingrays and horse shoe crabs.

As with Dubai Aquarium, guests have the option of exploring the marine habitat on their own or interacting with a ‘navigator', clad in an Indiana-Jones style uniform, who will be located in each chamber to convey educational facts on the mythical elements of Atlantis and the sea creatures on show.

Steve Kaiser, vice president of marine sciences & engineering for Kerzner International Development FZ LLC, who refers to himself as "the fish man", says that guides like these are important because attraction exit surveys reveal that only 10% of people read signage next to exhibits.

Guest can also watch daily feedings in the lagoon, enabling them to interact with the sea life in this way.

"If people really want to learn, The Lost Chambers can be a 30-40 minute experience," says Kaiser.

Conservation role

As well as being able to offer information and interactions, an important role for aquariums is to demonstrate an active interest in conservation.

"There's a big issue about conservation and collecting animals from the wild; it's quite a hot subject at the moment. Ethics is a really important part of modern aquarium work now," says Porter.

"Our policy is to try and save animals, so we've rescued those that are going to die in fishing nets or from coral areas that are going to be destroyed by construction.

"We try and get animals that are captive-reared if possible, so you're not consuming things from the wild. We've got some captive-reared sea horses," says Porter.

READERS' COMMENTS

MORE FROM ARABIANBUSINESS.COM