Øresund Aquarium — Attraction in Helsingør Municipality

Unfortunately, our visit to this aquarium was the first thing we did on our trip to Copenhagen that fell short of my expectations. Truth be told, I am a bit of an aquarium snob and have been spoilt by growing up visiting some truly superb aquariums, so I will admit my expectations for such places are very high. The Øresund aquarium did not meet them. I’ll start with my one positive comment- all the exhibits seemed to be fish local to the area which is something I appreciate to learn about the local marine flora and fauna- it also lends well into aiding marine conservation in local regions. But overall, I was quite disappointed in several of the tank setups with many fish crowded into tanks which were far too small to ensure their welfare. Unsupervised touch tanks are also a big feature of this aquarium, which immediately sets off alarm bells in my head as there is nobody present to ensure that the animals in said touch tanks are not becoming overly stressed from being constantly touched. There was also a cephalopod present in this aquarium with very little information about how she was sourced, what was being done to ensure her enrichment, or if she was part of a rotating catch and release policy, for example (as cephalopods like octopuses are so intelligent, being kept for indefinite times in tanks which do not meet their high intellectual needs is basically the equivalent of being put in solitary confinement forever. I.e. this is a form of torture.) Seeing all this was such a shame as I had high expectations for this aquarium, being right on the ocean and in a city where thus far I had noticed extremely high standards regarding climate action and care for animals- something I take care to notice particularly as a vet student. Fish and other such aquatic animals so often get left out of discussions on animal welfare, possibly because they cannot vocalize their discomfort, pain or suffering as other animals can, or possibly because we simply struggle to relate to them as we do to other mammals. They are easy to discount and ignore and often face abysmal treatment, misunderstanding and abuse. I expect aquariums to be at the forefront of remedying this, not be a part of perpetuating our dismissal of the welfare of fish. I would encourage those in charge here to reassess the appropriateness of the tanks here and would also encourage more information by each exhibit to give more context and detail about conservation efforts and about the welfare standards of the animals kept here as a start to improve the experience...

Lille akvarie - og det er SANDT, MEN! også et sted hvor man har meget mere mulighed for faktisk at kigge ordentligt på dyrene, i stedet for på den blå planet hvor der er så mange mennesker at man bare løber rundt for at se det hele. Hernede er der lagt vægt på at man ser de små biotroper af Øresund, med dyrene i deres helt igennem naturlige omgivelser. Formidlerne på øresund er ansat som dyrepassere, dyrepasser-elever eller formidlere som ofte studere biologi på KU, og de har derfor alle styr på hvad det er de fortæller om, og hvis du spørg, tager de dig gerne med rundt og fortæller om den sammenhæng der er tænkt i akvariernes rækkefølge og opbygning. Der tages også specielt hånd om de små, og Øresundsakvariet er også kendte for deres helt igennem gennemførte rørebassin, hvor der også står formidlere klar til at sørge for at dyrene behandles pænt, og det betyder meget for mig! dyrene er jo ikke bare en pengemaskine. I det 3 delte rørebassin kan man se krabber, eremitkrebs, søstjerner, muslinger, fladfisk, søanemoner, og ulke hvis det er sæson for det. De tilbyder også at de små - og barnlige vokse, kan være med til at fodre dyrene, og det er ALTID et kæmpe hit. Det store bassin i midten af udstillingen må man også gerne stikke hånden ned i, og her kan man bla. få lov at sig hej til rokker, hajer og torsk. De er efterhånden blevet meget nysgerrige og KÆLNE! Helt sikkert et akvarie jeg ville anbefale til andre!! Men husk, pengene bruges også til diverse forksning, så hvis du synes prisen er krydret i forhold til størrelsen så hav lige det i baghovedet. Øresundsakvariet er jo trods alt en del af Københavns...

It’s a tiny aquarium, but you can really see the care of the staffs here. The mirrors are also clear as being wiped by the staff, the tank was also wiped when there’s water droplets (you can touch animals in this tank). The displays in each tank is nice too, I can really look at the details on the fish’s body, it’s a lot better than many aquarium that create too much distance between us and the fish. I don’t know about other days, but today 11:00 they were feeding fish, and I got to feed too!

If you love aquarium, I think you...