Performances by adorable animals
A 40-year-old aquarium which continues to evolve. A variety of performance shows where you can see, enjoy and directly touch marine life are held daily, and they include hilarious performances by the huge tusked walruses and their trainers, shows by dolphins where you can see them pull off spectacular jumps close up, performances by adorable sea lions, acrobatics by striped beakfish and balloonfish, and experiments with electric eels. It’s recommended that visitors get a performance schedule in advance and then tour the aquarium during the intervals.
The sight of the giant water tank is just like being out in the sea
Umi Tamago’s main water tank, the Giant Circular Tank, contains 1250 tonnes of water in which 1500 creatures from 90 species such as sharks, rays and other huge spectacular animals of the deep swim about leisurely; standing atop the L-shaped acrylic panel will give you the feeling of floating atop the ocean. Performances involving feeding the fish are a hit with customers. In the Large Sea Coral Tank, a live video introduction by divers’ cameras is also popular. In the Touching Pool which you can enjoy for its integration with Beppu Bay on an epic scale, you can make contact with sea cucumbers, starfish and smaller sharks and rays.
View the popular animals of the sea on an artificial beach
Asobeach which was just completed in 2015 is an outdoor man-made beach as a completely open aquarium where you can closely observe animals in a near-natural environment such as dolphins swimming freely about and penguins taking a walk. There is also a French restaurant from where you can see the ocean, a food court which serves a light menu of udon, curry, rice and other dishes, and at the two shops inside the facility, you can purchase items such as original goods as well as specialty products of Oita Prefecture.