UMS Aquarium & Marine Museum walk-through I found my notes and had some free time, so thought I’d write a walk-through of the UMS Aquarium & Marine Museum. I haven’t seen this collection mentioned on ZooChat before, but it’s part of the Borneo Marine Research Institute (BMRI) in the Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS). My photos are fairly poor but give an idea of the place. Exterior: http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440824/ Unexplained wooden ship: http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440823/ The building is split into two halves connected by an entrance atrium (the tower in the exterior photo). Looking up reveals a cavern-like sea-life diorama which I can’t decide whether I like: http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440810/ To the left, the Marine Museum is a single room with display cases of natural history specimens. These are only labelled with species and collection site; more information would be nice for the non-expert. The Museum’s centrepiece is a Cuvier’s beaked whale skeleton, but there are also mounted turtles and a rough-toothed dolphin which was trapped in a fishing-net. It’s fairly dry (pun intended), but tastefully done. Marine Museum general view: http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440813/ Cuvier’s beaked whale skeleton: http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440811/ Mounted rough-toothed dolphin: http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440812/ To the right of the central atrium is the Aquarium, which is roughly four times larger than the Marine Museum and consists of ten tanks. Labelling is poor and interpretation is clearly whatever the BMRI had lying around. However, the exhibits themselves are mostly high quality. This shows basically the entire aquarium (taken from the entrance end): http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440815/ The first tank is circular and contains clownfish, blue tang and bannerfish. http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440814/ The second is an incongruous wood-mounted tank with unlabelled piscine inhabitants. http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440816/ The third tank is a similar size but more in-keeping with the general aesthetic. It contains a juvenile green turtle. http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440817/ The fourth tank is the same design as the second and also unlabelled. The fifth is the largest in the facility and features an impressive convex viewing window. The rocky bottom at the front inclines naturally towards the rear, so there’s no visually intrusive back wall. Again, the inhabitants are unlabelled, but include at least two green turtles and various fish. http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440821/ The sixth tank is also rectangular in the style of the third. Again unlabelled, but it includes live corals. A raised area at the far end of the aquarium contains the final four tanks. Tank seven is another circular arrangement. Juvenile napoleon wrasse were labelled but absent on my visit. Adjacent to this is the second large tank with convex viewing. The back is a wall of large rocks and the bottom is around a metre below the viewing area, giving the impression of a window into the ocean. This is an effect all aquaria strive for, but few manage so effectively. The tank supposedly replicates an actual dive-site (Pulau Sipadan) and houses several species of unlabelled grouper. These photos show both the seventh and eighth tanks: http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440818/ http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440820/ The ninth tank is another circular arrangement and the only freshwater exhibit. It holds Nile tilapia. The final tank is smaller but has another convex viewing window. It also continues well below the acrylic, again giving the impression of a window on the sea. From the signage, I believe the inhabitants are tiger x giant grouper hybrids bred for fisheries research. http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440819/ There’s also a movie theatre and “Mangrove Walk” on the way out, which consists of a small planter with mangrove trees. http://www.zoochat.com/614/ums-aquarium-marine-museum-440822/ Overall, the facility’s major let-down is poor signage, both for species held (even just names and pictures would’ve been fine) and relevant interpretation about the plight of Sabah’s marine ecosystems. This is especially frustrating as it’s situated in a university! KK's Green Connection is a more substantial collection, but exhibit quality at UMS is consistently higher. It’s certainly worth a quick visit.
