Is this brand-new facility, which only just opened about 6 months ago, the best aquarium in Mexico? I've heard nice things about it but all of the press releases state that the establishment is only 11,500 sq. ft. in size. Is that accurate? If so, that would mean there are at least 60 aquariums in the United States larger in size, and even the U.S.'s tiniest Sea Life facility is double the size of Acuario Inbursa. Is the Mexico City attraction really that tiny? Here is a link with some interesting information: Mexican Tycoon Carlos Slim Opens A World-Class Aquarium In Mexico City - Forbes
I have been to Acuario Inbursa 2 times. It is not that small. While acuario inbursa is no Shedd Aquarium, in size i would compare it to the Boston Aquarium, without the seal exhibits. Most of the acuario inbursa is underground. Only the shop is on ground level. Acuario inbursa has 4 levels. The lowest level is dedicated to the ocean tank which covers the whole floor and has sharks and stingrays, among others. The next level has more sea exhibits with an interesting jelly fish gallery. The second floor has mostly fresh water exhibits and is rather conventional, though there are some interesting species of mexican turtles. mexico city has never had a public aquarium of this size. The acuario inbursa has been a great success. On weekends the admission lines are huge and people may wait for 2 hours to get in. Gentoo penguins have just arrived to Acuario Inbursa. There are 6 birds that came from a japanese collection. nearby Chapultepec zoo has 5 humbolt's penguins that also came form japan. However, gentoos have never been exhibited in mexico. When i can i will go to Acuario inbursa to photograph the exhibit and the birds for zoochat.
@Carlos55: thanks for the response! It is great that Mexico City, with a metropolitan population of over 20 million people, finally has a decent aquarium. The public are excited, the project apparently cost $20 million, there are at least 230 species on show in 48 exhibits...but all of the various articles mention the square footage being 11,500. As I said before, even the tiniest Sea Life franchise is double the new Mexican aquarium. According to Wikipedia, Boston's New England Aquarium is 75,000 sq. ft. and it seems that the square footage of the Mexican aquarium being reported is either accurate (and the facility crams a lot into its galleries) or it perhaps seems larger than it really is. How does Inbursa compare to Veracruz?
Estimado Snow leopard, I would suppose the 11,500 figures refers only to the ground level shop, most of the Acuario Inbursa is underground. This was actually quite a feat of engineering considering that Mexico City is in an earthquake prone area. I have not been to Acuario veracruz in quite a while, this institution has manatees and dolphins. Carlos Slim was wise not to include marine mammals at the Acuario Inbursa to avoid all the current controversy. It is surprsing that there are really so few public aquariums in Mexico. There is Acuario veracruz, Acuario Mazatlan, the small Acuario Interactivo at Cancun, also aquarium at Xcaret. Guadalajara zoo and Morelia zoo have aquariums. Unfortunately there are too many swim with the dolphin places on both the pacific and atlantic coasts, which are a plague. Acuario Inbursa does fill an important space for Mexico city inhabitants who have gone to the aquarium in such great numbers that probably Carlos Slim himself is surprised. '
I posted photos from my recent visit to Acuario Imbursa. The penguins have arrived at last. There are both Gentoos and Chinstraps. Neither species has ever been exhibited in Mexico. Guadalajara zoo has Adelie penguins and Chapultepec zoo has Humbodlt penguins. It is interesting that all the penguins in Mexico have come from Japan. The Acuario Inbursa exhibit is adequate for the about 12 birds that are there, but i did not see enough space for breeding, unless they intend to do that in another area.
Acuario Inbursa opened a new área called Blue Lab. It has various educational exhibits along with a breeding center with seahorses ,clownfish ,cardinalfish and corals,among others. There are other animal exhibits. I have posted some Photos on the gallery.
Acuario Inbursa has been such a success in México City that owner Carlos Slim ,the mexican tycoon, has now opened 2 moré aquariums that seem to be identical to Acuario Inbursa from the videos i have seen. One is called Acuario del Bajío and is located in the city of León in the stat e of Guanajuato. The other is called Le Aquarium and is located in Playa del Carmen, Quintana Roo near Cancun. Both of the new aquariums have been very sucessfull according to news reports.
