Explore the hint panels inside the museum
Take the quiz about the SDGs!
SDGs(Sustainable Development Goals)And
The Sustainable Development Goals are a set of 17 goals established by the United Nations to tackle poverty and environmental issues through global cooperation by 2030.
At the aquarium, we focus on our 14th goal, "Conserve the richness of the ocean," and we teach about the ecology and habitats of living creatures. But do you know how much plastic waste ends up in the oceans around the world each year?
That's a whopping 800 million tons.
This is equivalent to the weight of 222 Tokyo Skytree towers.
If things continue as they are, it is said that by 2050 there will be more trash than living creatures in the ocean.
If that were to happen, it would be a problem for both living things and humans.
Let's learn by solving problems how to improve the situation and what we should do to make it better!
Main things to learnSDGsGoal
Learn about the creatures from the displays inside the museum
Learn about the impact of everyday items on living things
Learn about the ecology and habitats of marine creatures
Learn about the ecology and habitats of land creatures
problemOneBlue Carbon
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is absorbed by marine plants through photosynthesis and stored in the plants themselves and on the seafloor, and is called "blue carbon."
Blue carbon is stored in large amounts in seaweed beds (seagrass and seaweed), tidal flats, mangrove forests, and other places known as "blue carbon ecosystems."
quiz
What functions do blue carbon ecosystems have?
problemTwoMarine debris
Plastic bottles and bags discarded in rivers and oceans are a problem, but among marine debris, microplastics are particularly problematic.
Microplastics are small particles of plastic products that have been broken down into particles less than 5mm in size.
quiz
What are the characteristics of microplastics?
problemThree.Breeding of sand tiger sharks
The sand tiger shark is a shark that lives in warm seas around the world, and in Japan it lives in the Ogasawara Islands.
Due to overfishing, their numbers have decreased, and they only give birth once every two years, making them an endangered species.
Our aquarium has been working on breeding since we first began raising them in 1999, and in June 2021 we successfully bred them for the first time in Japan.
quiz
How are baby sand sharks born?
problemFour.Coral propagation
Corals live in symbiosis with algae called zooxanthellae.
If the seawater temperature becomes too high, the zooxanthellae disappear and "bleaching" (the white skeleton becomes visible) occurs, and if this condition continues, the coral will die.
In recent years, coral bleaching has been confirmed around the world due to rising sea temperatures, and coral reefs are being lost.
quiz
What do you call the process by which corals reproduce by creating clones (copies of themselves) in order to produce offspring?
problemFive.Local extinction
"Extinction" means that a living thing disappears from the Earth.
"Regional extinction" occurs when a species that was once present in a certain area is no longer found in that area.
[Animals at risk of local extinction in Japan]
・Tuped puffin, Siberian blakiston's fish owl, Japanese rock ptarmigan, Iriomote wildcat, etc.
quiz
Where can you see wild tufted puffins in Japan?
problem6Environmental enrichment
Environmental enrichment is the process of creating an environment that enriches the lives of captive animals and brings out the various behaviors they exhibit in the wild.
quiz
Our Canadian river otter tank has a deliberately complex structure, with varying levels, which allows us to observe behavior similar to that seen in the wild.
Otters sometimes stand upright, supporting their bodies with their hind legs and tails, but why do they stand up on their hind legs?
problemSevenEx situ conservation
In order to protect endangered species such as the Humboldt penguin, a method of avoiding extinction by raising them in safe facilities and systematically increasing their population is called "ex situ conservation."
quiz
How many eggs do Humboldt penguins lay in a season?
