Huge aquarium opens in Turkey

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An aquarium claiming to be one of the largest thematic aquariums in the world opened last week in Turkey drawing thousands of new visitors including the Turkish Prime Minister.

The Istanbul Aquarium cost over £100 million and features 15,000 fish with 1,500 species of fish from 16 regions of the world including the Black Sea to the Pacific Ocean. The fish are exhibited in 64 tanks with a capacity of 6800m2 covering an area of over 100 acres and a trail measuring over 1.2km in length.

The aquarium is over two storeys and features two ‘5D’ theatres where you can experience, rain, fog and wind effects.

Previously Turkey boasted Turkuazoo – the largest aquarium in Europe covering 55,000 square metres which is still open a short distance away.

While thousands of people attended the official opening, forum posts suggest that perhaps the aquarium needs some settling in time before it is as spectacular as it claims. It hopes to welcome 25 million visitors a year.

In case a holiday to Turkey isn’t on the cards, you can check out the aquarium on the video.

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