The North Sea Oceanarium — Attraction in Hjørring Municipality

(starting positive - animal cruelty warning below)

Some very nice aquariums, some great ideas of exhibition. The entrance hall, looking at the boat from below and up the pier for example is impressive. Also the tunnel through the seal habitat was a nice experience, since mostly this kind of tunnelsare indoors, here you see the blue sky through the water from below. Very nice. As pretty much everywhere in Denmark, the place has a lot to offer for children. Scavenger hunt, microscopy, a great playground, searching for amber, nice stuff. The fish and claw fish (and so on) in the aquariums are (exclusively?) from the North and Baltic Sea. This is the focus of the Oceanium and works really good, imo. You don't need exotic to be interesting/beautiful/educational.

BUT. We left the place with very mixed feelings and rather wouldn't recommend it to people we know. There is a "petting zoo" for crabs and sea stars were people get to catch and touch the animals. And people are pretty hard handed. These animals are not fine. Missing legs, missing arms. This is right away animal cruelty and I can't understand how this is possible in 2023 Europe. Same goes for the crab fishing outside. Animals are not toys! Yes, people do that in the harbours from the pier. Yes, crabs get caught en masse and eaten. But these are crabs in captivity and as soon as we confine an animal, we are responsible for its wellbeing. Animals are not toys. Makes no difference if it's an elephant, a dog or a crab or a bug.

Second warning: if you do not eat fish and/or meat, better bring your own lunch, otherwise you'll have to live on fries, pretty much. But that's not much different from the rest of Denmark, I reckon. It's...

I love aquariums. The sea life is always amazing to see. But, while the North Sea Oceanarium sea life is quiet spectacular, the overall experience isn't. There are really only seven aquariums, and one of the main attractions is to come see the fish and seals getting fed. The downside is the Ocean View aquarium - where there are loads of spaces to sit as long as you show up min 15 minutes before - but there are loads of parents and their kids who sit in front of the aquarium spoiling the view. There is a diver who goes in aquarium and speaks to the audience, but with all the parents and kids in front you don't see a lot. Also when the diver goes to the bottom of the aquarium, the only way to view anything is two smaller screens on either side of the aquarium. The same happened again with the seal feeding, where there are loads of seating places, but again parents and kids stand in front and block off the view. If you go to the top of the seating area you cannot see a lot. Best spot to view the seal feeding is the seating area from the observation deck just outside the restaurant. While it's quite pricey, it is worth going but get there in time to get the good spots. Staff should also really tell people to get out of the way and also get some bigger screens to...

It was cold and grey outside and very windy when we decided to go to The North Sea Oceanarium. It was a good decision. There’s lots to see and do and it’s particularly good for families, but everyone will enjoy it. The tanks are enormous and many of the fish are too. Photo shows some sharks. The smallest creature we met was living in a tiny pipe and only coming out to eat hand fed mussels- he’s not keen on shrimps. The café looked good if you wanted lunch and there’s a really nice area for picnics if you bring your own food you can sit inside or out. We had an ice cream near the seal’s pool area outside. It was very easy to spend half a day there and I could have been there longer. Your ticket is valid for a year- if only we...