Visitors to the Oceanographic Museum of Nha Trang Oceanographic Institute can observe thousands of sea creatures and learn about the marine specimens and the sovereignty of Vietnam over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos. The museum has recently set up a new tank of hard corals and a new cylindrical fish tank.
Visitors to the Oceanographic Museum of Nha Trang Oceanographic Institute can observe thousands of sea creatures and learn about the marine specimens and the sovereignty of Vietnam over the Hoang Sa (Paracel) and Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagos. The museum has recently set up a new tank of hard corals and a new cylindrical fish tank.
The section exhibiting the ocean specimens of the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos opened in 2016. This section houses hundreds of samples of creature and geological specimens living in the water near the archipelagos. These specimens have been collected by the scientists of the Nha Trang Oceanographic Institute in their numerous field trips to the archipelagos. This section has attracted the interest of many domestic and international visitors.
The new tank of hard corals and cylindrical fish tanks are the highlight of the display section. The corals are reared by artificial light and temperature control system; the water is treated with algae instead of water filtration system. As said by Hoang Xuan Ben, Deputy Director of the Nha Trang Oceanographic Museum, the institute used to rear many types of corals using natural light; however, at present, the museum has selected the types of corals which are suitable to be reared in artificial conditions.
The corals reared in the tank at the Nha Trang Oceanographic Museum are diverse and eye-catchingly colorful. Nguyen Phuong Oanh, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City said, “I often visit the Oceanographic Museum whenever I travel to Nha Trang. I love to contemplate the specimens, especially the ones of the Spratly and Paracel Archipelagos. The newly added hard coral and cylindrical fish tanks are very spectacular.”
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The cylindrical fish tank is centrally located and is the current largest fish tank at the Nha Trang Oceanographic Institute. This tank is designed to house big fishes which are carefully selected by the institute. At present, the cylindrical fish tank is housing three types of fishes: trachinotus blochii, Gnathanodon speciosus, and Osphronemus goramy. These fishes have been reared at the institute since they were juveniles; therefore, they have got used to the tank’s environment.
According to Ben, the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos specimen section is 6.5 meters wide and over 120 meters long. The section has been only half completed and will be finished by the end of this year. The institute also planned to build a four-storey building to display the newly-collected objects about the archipelagos. Each storey will be designed with a particular theme, affirming the sovereignty of Vietnam over the archipelagos.
The Nha Trang Oceanographic Institute is now displaying more than 20,000 specimens of over 4,000 sea creatures and is housing hundreds of species of sea animals. The institute’s museum is a place helping visitors to learn general knowledge of the sea life and the diversity of natural resources in Vietnam. Apart from the exhibition section of the Paracel and Spratly archipelagos specimens, the museum has other sections featuring deep sea ecosystem, mangrove ecosystem, artificial reef tank, etc.
The area of mangrove ecosystem is providing house to two saltwater crocodiles. This type of crocodile is native to saltwater habitats and brackish wetlands and has been extinct in the wild. Since 2018, the visitors to the institute can enjoy the beauty of the coral reefs on glass-bottom basket boats. This service is available free of charge.
Number of visitors to the Nha Trang Oceanographic Museum has risen thanks to the new specimens and service. The museum received more than 360,000 visitors in 2016 and 435,000 visitors in 2018; among them were over 87,000 foreign tourists.
Cat Ha
Translated by H.N
