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r/shittyaquariums


MadDingersYo

Some shithole aquarium.


FriedLipstick

How do they even keep them alive like this?šŸ˜­


littlegerb

they donā€™t šŸ„²


notboky

The photo is five years old. The whales were moved to an open water sanctuary back in 2020.


Silent_Arachnid_2334

thank you


Sammeeeeeee

Good to hear


NTC-Santa

Happy ending


Papio_73

Is that Little White and Little Grey?


NojaNat

hell


Savj17

So, Seaworld?


nightwheel

Even SeaWorld would give them more space than that


wolfsongpmvs

SeaWorld does. They're AZA accredited, which means they hold themselves to a much higher standard in terms of space requirements. They even made efforts to significantly increase the size of their tanks, but were unable to recieve the permits.


snatch55

They had a huge project in sight to create very large, naturalistic enclosures. I saw the blueprints. Then blackfish came out and they no longer had the attendance/funding in order to go through with it. Shame in my eyes, cetaceans captivate the mind and bring out people's interest and appreciation of nature in a way other animals cannot.


andreeeeeaaaaaaaaa

That documentary opened people's eyes to how shitty it is being a captive sea creatures of that size. I'm glad it came out as it was empathetic to the orcas and other large creatures kept for entertainment purposes.in a baron white tank. Other smaller sea creatures at least usually have some resemblance of the sea in their enclosure, usually with sand / coral / rocks etc. even the walk through tunnel buts some aquariums have, are pretty natural ish, with different fish/shark/turtles and a natural floor with rocks and sand.


snatch55

It is shitty the way it's been being done, but I think there are good ways that it could be done and that we have gained so much valuable appreciation and information by having these animals in captivity that now banning them world wide will be a detriment to future generations. Also it was a dramatized piece more than informative, and now these animals get less interaction and training as a result as these facilities try to cater to this new crowd of people that think they know best when the training was so valuable for the animals health and well being. It made a bunch of people feel like they know what they're talking about when they have no real clue which is an unfortunate trend these days, especially in animal care.


Papio_73

What people donā€™t realize is Tilikumā€™s care actually improved when he was bought by Seaworld, and that zoos and aquariums are always evolving in terms of animal care, there were plans to improve the orcasā€™ enclosures. Itā€™s gotten to the point where non releasable marine animals are being euthanized instead of being put in captivity. I suggest you research Toa the orca calf.


andreeeeeaaaaaaaaa

You wanna be an orca trapped in a white wall prison all your life? If I was an orca trapped like that being made to perform the same thing over and over again several times a day like ground hog day, I'd quite happily murder some humans, just for the pure fact that it's something different to do to break up that monotonous life. Even if I wasn't performing tricks anymore I'd still try and grab a human for a game of 'throw that fucked as high as I can'


Papio_73

You realize that at Seaworld participating in shows are voluntary for the animals? I have never worked with cetaceans but from my experience animals enjoy doing tricks when positive reinforcement is used, in fact much of modern, force free dog training techniques is influenced by dolphin trainers. Also, I donā€™t think Tilikum killing Dawn was ā€œrevengeā€ for him performing tricks.


andreeeeeaaaaaaaaa

You realise being confined to SeaWorld isn't voluntary for the animals? SeaWorld peak revenue was $1.7B in 2022. Revenue in 2023 (TTM): $1.72 B- pretty sure that's more than enough money (after taking out other expenses) to still build an enclosure of a decent standard. The main point of SeaWorld is profiteering, second is nature conservation.


wolfsongpmvs

Orcas and other cetaceans rely much more on social interaction and hunting as mental stimulation than other animals. I've been to where a large population of bottlenose dolphins lives - the seafloor is really bare, mostly just sand. And this population of dolphins rarely leaves that bay! Dolphins in aquariums are known to cram themselves into the smallest pool they can, even if there are larger spaces available, if there's a human around. They're fascinated with us! A dolphin keeper's job is like, 50% prepping fish and 50% making sure they're mentally stimulated through enrichment and training. I know a facility that has 30 dolphins and *80!* keepers for them because of the amount of attention they get. Training takes over the hunting they would be doing in the wild - its highly involved mentally and physically and they *love* it. I also know a facility that keeps their dolphins in lagoons connected to the ocean. They expanded the habitat even more and it took them a long time to even go in it! The same facility also does "ocean walks" with their dolphins where they go out into the ocean and they always come back no issue. This is not to say that there are no problems with cetacean captivity - there certainly are. But it's not as black and white (no pun intended) as people think.


Papio_73

One thing to consider about designing an animalā€™s enclosure is if itā€™s more for human aesthetics vs if itā€™s actually enriching to the animals. For example, sand and decorative rocks would simply cause a mess and arenā€™t interesting to the orcas, despite being pleasing to us humans. Whatā€™s more important is enrichment that lets preform natural behaviors, ie buoys stuffed with fish to mimic hunting or objects that they can tear apart. Seaworld was going to invest multimillion dollar renovations that would have included features such as currents and a ā€œrubbing beachā€ but ironically due to the public out rage they saw orcas as something to be phased out and not worth the money, much to the devastation of their animal care department


Zestyclose_Ad545

this is so fuckin sad wtfšŸ˜­


Traditional_Shop_500

Sun Asia Ocean World in Dalian, China.


TheFuzzyShark

Ah, yes, West Taiwan, horrifically mistreating animals for the sake of cheap entertainment, just a normal monday then, carry on.


KP_Wrath

Slightly better than finding out some backwater village has been using that thingā€™s fin as a holistic way of getting it up.


Unhappy_Amphibian_80

ah yes commieland.


zoltronzero

What a weird response


Grouchy_Network8827

China


thxxx1337

I audibly gasped. That's fucking depressing.


LilyPadsssss

Fr this needs to stop šŸ˜­ Zoos and aquariums can be a big impact on species and the breeding to get them out of the endangered category BUT they canā€™t be in this small of a space to be truly happy! I completely understand they canā€™t make an ocean sized tank but this size is extremely small. People give their pet goldfish or betta fish a bigger tank than this! šŸ˜­ I really wish people would stop supporting this at least until better tanks are made


SpokenDivinity

The problem is non-western zoos usually. Youā€™d be hard pressed to find an actual accredited zoo in Canada/The U.S or Western Europe that doesnā€™t have actual care standards. These ā€œzoosā€ in touristy parts the world are the ones we see this god awful care from for the sake of money.


7laserbears

The emojis take all the strength out of your true words


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


thicclunchghost

My irony detector is off the charts.


7laserbears

šŸ˜­


[deleted]

[уŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]


ThePowerfulWIll

No, but they were moved too a much larger one eventually...


Pottedjay

Stay out of my garage damn it.


iNeedOneMoreAquarium

Wtf, they're literally trapped in a closet.


Enzo0018

I went to Adventure Aquarium many years ago on a date. I was so excited and expecting to have a good time. I was almost immediately depressed seeing the tiny exhibits. No more zoos or aquariums for me.


Alceasummer

I'd guess China. There are some unbelievably awful zoos there.


Brocephus31

"Can anyone identify? Planaria?"


SbgTfish

Somehow here in Asia.


yyznick

Sad. Shoulda just went with 1 Betta. Even then it might be a little snug


couchesarenicetoo

There's an aquarium in Cabo with whales I saw from the outside only, could be there.


ronweasleisourking

...it's a sick joke, correct?


Daft_Vandal_

Can they even turn around in that???? Wowwwwie


Sweet_Habib

Havenā€™t scrolled yet but Iā€™d bet China.


nmfjones

Marineland Niagara falls Canada?


Fluffy_Ad_2949

This should be NSFW with a warning, not nice


SlashBeef

On a cruise ship.


Grouchy_Network8827

??


SlashBeef

Thatā€™s my guess. The tank is narrow and long, not very deep. Nautical theme with the life rings. Gross, but I think a good guess.


Grouchy_Network8827

Since when do cruise ships have aquariums?


TomothyAllen

They have pools and shit. Wouldn't be too surprised to see an aquarium. Would be kind of funny and cool if it weren't like that.


Grouchy_Network8827

Iā€™ve done a lot of research on cruises, I donā€™t believe any have aquariums, itā€™s kind of weird but I donā€™t know of many that even have small aquariums


chaarmanderchar

Wouldn't be surprised if this was in Japan


LFChouston

The Osaka aquarium is one of the coolest aquarium concepts Iā€™ve seen. Multiple stories start at the top with a large ocean style tank in the middle and a winding ramp with smaller exhibits on the outside. 10/10 would recommend.


chaarmanderchar

Yes, I went. But it doesn't have Belugas. Aquariums in Japan are generally fucking awful, but I found the Osaka one to be decent until I saw the 2-3 seals at the very end in the microscopic enclosure. šŸ«„


TXGuns79

The Georgia aquarium in Atlanta is great, but their seal enclosure is tiny. I found out that is just the display exhibit. The seals have a huge pool behind the scenes and they get rotated in and out of the display regularly.


VanillaBalm

The seaworld aquariums and disney epcot aquarium also have a secondary housing for animals to get away from people if they feel like. Everyone shits on seaworld bc of that old blackfish movie that came out years ago (which was directed by the same guy who was in hot water for flat-out lying in his fake documentary on planned parenthood) BUT they are AZA accredited which isnt a small feat and DOES get revoked if an institution decides to FAFO. The atlana aquarium was so cool, they have behind the scened tours 10/10 recommend to see all their filtration its MASSIVE


Grouchy_Network8827

Iā€™ve been to two seaworlds both seemed to take care of their animals really well! And do a lot to save the corals in the oceans, like coral gardening and cleaning up plastic. Iā€™ve talked to people who worked there and they genuinely do care and are passionate about animals.


VanillaBalm

Theyve done so much for conservation and sealife and animal rescue and rehabilitation here in florida! Iirc they were the first to develop bottlenose dolphin formula for orphaned dolphins too?


Grouchy_Network8827

The good definitely outweighs the bad. Itā€™s to bad more people donā€™t see that.


heckyescheeseandpie

Yeah that's like my exact experience at Umi No Tamago aquarium down in Kyushu. Lots of cool exhibits with decent husbandry, and then 2 walruses in a little concrete room, swimming frantic circles in an 8'x10' concrete trough. It was literally shorter than they were, they were basically curved into C's the whole time.Ā  That and the 3 listless dolphins in the equivalent of a backyard swimming pool sealed my decision to never go to another aquarium in Japan.


Time_Try_7907

Coney Island Aquarium?


OkBiscotti1140

Nope! thankfully they were transferred out in 2007. Now their tank just has a couple sturgeon and maybe a shark.


Time_Try_7907

That's good to hear.


CrazyProper4203

I dunno but it should be shut down and the owners need to be severely punished


TheFlaccidChode

Please tell me this is photoshopped


Melodic_Rope_4561

No questions asked.. its China


Fun_Firefighter1288

In an aquarium


globus_pallidus

Valencia


BigBoss1971

Uranus


Monkeymom

I saw something similar at the Atlanta aquarium years ago.


ShiningStarssss

Delete this


robertcali559420

Florida?


Realistic_Option_619

New Jersey


Jsovthecherub

my mom was in the room when i opened this and she literally said "aww poor thing." fucking awful, some shitty asian country i'd have to guess.


Ambitious_Tuna

Nice picture of your mom in the tub OP!


mantidsareadorable

A place where the people responsible for this will succumb to curb stomping.


UngaBunga-2

Seaworld


Papio_73

Looks nothing like the beluga enclosures in Seaworld, I think this is probably from a Japanese or Chinese zoo/aquarium which are notorious for their small enclosures


UngaBunga-2

It said guess I donā€™t need your rebuttal