Sumida Aquarium boasts a special viewing tank, transparent floors, and sections where you can see how they breed the jellies.

Jellyfish benefit from a good reputation in Japan. Summer is especially rife with cute depictions of jellies on store banners, incorporated into cuisine and a huge presence in aquarium ad campaigns. Who wouldn’t want to sit in a cool, air-conditioned room in the dead heat of summer and watch the gently undulating sea gelatins go by?

▼ A stomolophus meleagris or “cannonball jellyfish” (left) and a chrysaora achlyos or “black sea-nettle jellyfish” (right).

Sumida Aquarium, which is nestled in the heart of tourist-magnet Tokyo Sky Tree‘s Solamachi Complex, is already aware of the deep allure of jellyfish. They have even run seasonal events based around the gloopy, drifting starlets before.

Though the aquarium closed for long enough that staff feared their garden eels would forget what humans looked like, July 16 heralded a re-opening of the aquarium… and with it came the unveiling of a brand new seven-meter tank: the Big Petri Dish.

▼ Visitors can walk over the tank due to the beautifully illuminated glass sky deck.

The Japanese word for jellyfish, kurage, actually means “ocean moon”, and viewing their pearly, elliptical caps through the transparent sky deck floor will help you see why. Sumida Aquarium expects to host around 500 jellyfish in the Big Petri Dish tank, which will make for a stunning spectacle — and a great photo opportunity.

The tank itself isn’t the only hub of activity. The walls of the Petri Dish will be lined with three drum tanks, each populated with three different species of jellyfish to mingle together.

▼ Viewers can compare how they look, how they swim, and their coloration.

That’s not all the new jellyfish area has to offer. In the Aqua Base guests can visit a special “kitchen” where staff cook up the food they serve to the creatures living in the aquarium, then learn about how to take care of specimens and help them to breed in the “lab”. Many of these processes have only ever been performed backstage, away from the public eye, so this is a brand new opportunity to learn how your favorite marine creatures live and thrive at the aquarium.

Around 700 jellyfish of 14 different species await customers inside the Sumida Aquarium’s walls. Take care that you order a ticket in advance through a tour or an online web service, and enjoy the peaceful serenity that only a shimmering globule of sea-lace can bring.

Source: Sumida Aquarium, PR Times
Images: PR Times
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