| On one of the developing parts of the island is the Curaçao Sea Aquarium , a "must-see"! There is too much to take in and experience in just a short visit, so make sure you plan an entire afternoon or morning around the Aquarium.
Our pages were the very first online for the Sea Aquarium. Since then, they now have their own website with many details. We timed it just right, and got there during feeding time for the creatures. You can make a phone call from your hotel to the Sea Aquarium to find out the feeding times. Here's a seal sitting right up for lunch! |
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The caretaker takes a little break to answer our questions about
how
often the turtles get fed. Although you can only see a few here, we
counted about twenty in the holding pen which is fenced off underwater,
yet still is linked to the ocean. As soon as the girl
stepped down onto the platform, the turtles started to swim for their
feeding. Everyone got their cameras out as the slow, but poetic turtles
made their way to the platform.
Almost everyone in Curaçao is multi-lingual. This girl spoke Dutch, English, Spanish, German and Papiamentu...the native language here which is a creole mixture of Dutch, Portuguese, English, Spanish, French, African and some Arawak.
As we followed along from the sidewalk overlooking the pens, we heard
her say the next feeding was for the "Sharks!"
And there they were! Almost "pet-like", they came
as close as they could without getting out of the water. One
seems to be smelling the wooden planks where moments ago
some shark food was placed. We were told
that shark are not common in the waters off Curaçao, although they
have been seen. Most of them are like these, the very timid "Nurse
"
shark, which is not aggressive. Nevertheless, we stayed high up on
the sidewalk...
So here's how you hand-feed a shark. The caretaker gets two
fish in one hand and holds onto the fiberglass platform with the other.
Two shark know this routine all too well and swim right up onto the
platform. The platform is designed to be at water level. But with
the additional weight of the shark, the platform begins to go underwater
and the caretaker had to jump back to the wooden area. Even though
they are labeled "non-aggressive", I wouldn't want to tempt
them with a swim in "their" tank.
Another attraction at
the Sea Aquarium is a semi-submersed submarine.
Onboard you can see a feeding right through your porthole. One side
of the sub is toward the shark pen, the other to the open sea. We
experienced the beauty of so much sea life that it was hard to keep
track of all the variety. Don't miss the sub. It's inexpensive and
well worth your time.