Oga Aquarium Gao

Oga Aquarium Gao
Oga Aquarium Gao
	The aquarium in 2020
	39°56′32″N 139°42′16″E / 39.942167°N 139.704583°E
Date opened	1967 (former); 13 July 2004 (current)
Location	Oga, Akita, Japan
No. of animals	10,000
No. of species	400
Volume of largest tank	800,000 litres (211,000 US gal)
Total volume of tanks	1,423,000 litres (376,000 US gal)
Memberships	JAZA
Website	www.gao-aqua.jp

Oga Aquarium Gao (男鹿水族館ガオ, Oga Suizokukan Gao), officially Akita Prefectural Oga Aquarium, is an aquarium located along Oga Peninsula coast, Oga, Akita Prefecture, Japan. GAO stands for Globe, Aqua and Ocean, and sounds like an Oga-native Namahage shout.^[6]

Overview

Overlooking the Sea of Japan, it keeps and displays over 10,000 marine organisms, including those from Akita Prefecture's abundant marine resources and over 400 species of rare aquatic animals from around the world. This is the only tank in Japan where they have Japanese sandfish on display all year round.^[7] They also have a touch pool section where you can handle different sea creatures, such as sea urchin and sea cucumbers.^[8]^[9] During the New Year’s season, divers dress up as Namahage and feed the fishes in the main tank.^[10]^[11] The aquarium has appeared in the film "Tsuribaka Nisshi 15".^[12]

History

The former Akita Prefectural Aquarium was founded in 1967, and displayed 300 species including Japanese sandfish, Otters, Penguins and White caimans.^[13]