Two years ago, "Shark City" in Pfungstadt became history. At the time, there was a faint hope that the chapter of "constructing new large-scale aquariums" in Germany would remain closed once and for all. In times of climate change and species extinction, no one would be so presumptuous as to plan such a reckless project for Germany again.
Far from it! In the capital of all places, precisely this is currently taking place. "Coral World" is the name of the construction project in Berlin, with frightening parallels to "Shark City".
An Israeli investor, who already operates several large-scale aquariums, had been planning a "family water park" in the Rummelsburger Bucht (a bay on the River Spree in the Lichtenberg district) since around 2015. The purchase of the land was initiated and planning began, with an expected completion in 2019. Over the years, however, the plans changed - and to date, not a single shovel of earth has been turned. According to current planning, a pure large-scale aquarium is to be built there - without a family park, but now with a hotel.
This change of plan has now also mobilised local politicians - the first counterarguments emerged. And then, virtually in the neighbourhood, the AquaDom in the Radisson Blue burst in December 2022: 1 million litres of water, various pieces of debris, and 1,500 dead fish in the hotel lobby and three basement levels. This accident clearly demonstrated the technical risks of such a facility.
As a result, the local authorities tightened the requirements, demanding double glazing and partitioning for the new aquariums. Renowned aquarium experts contradict this approach ("complete nonsense") as being impracticable and moreover useless: if the first pane breaks and falls into the second, the second will also break.
Interesting details are currently emerging regarding the planned construction of "Coral World". Contrary to grand announcements that there were no plans whatsoever for anything like the AquaDom, a nine-metre-high cylinder is to be built in "Coral World"; certainly not nearly as large as the ruptured AquaDom, but likewise a round construction with all the weaknesses inherent in that very design. In addition, an 840 m² tank is planned. Even if it were only four metres deep (which is unlikely), it would already hold 3.3 million litres of water. At a water depth of five metres, this increases to 4.2 million litres of water, and at the actually probable tank depth of six metres, around 5 million litres of water are required for a single filling. Water that constantly evaporates and must be replenished. Water that must be constantly heated to around 25°C. Would you like another calculation? With tanks open at the top (which can certainly be assumed at this size), an average evaporation of 7 litres of water per square metre per hour must be expected even at a water temperature of 24°C. For a tank of this size, this multiplies to almost 6,000 litres per day or over 150,000 litres of water per month. Admittedly, our calculation has an error: in coral tanks, the water is heated to up to 29°C, and evaporates significantly faster, meaning more water per hour, per week, per month...
It goes without saying that such a tank cannot manage without large panoramic windows for the paying public. In the event of an accident like that of the AquaDom, 5 million litres of saltwater could pour into the Spree.
Another parallel to previous large-scale aquarium plans is the operators' continued refusal to publish the stocking list: which animals of which origin are actually supposed to swim among the corals? Logically, and appealing to the expected audience, would be not only colourful coral fish and mackerel but also some large fish, namely rays and sharks.
However, the planners of "Coral World" are not releasing this stocking list. In response to her inquiry to the Senate Department for the Environment, Mobility, Consumer Protection and Climate Action, the member of parliament Hendrikje Klein (Die Linke) received the following reply: "In the view of CWB Coral-World Berlin mbH, these lists represent an interest worthy of protection. The current publication was objected to by CWB Coral-World Berlin mbH." (Source). This means that the authorities in the capital know the planned stocking but are not permitted to publish it because the company considers the information to be an "interest worthy of protection".
The member of parliament Hendrikje Klein considers this secrecy regarding the animal list to be unacceptable: "The public interest in learning which fish are to be exhibited there, and in what numbers, clearly outweighs the private interest. Until it is clear what caused the catastrophe at the AquaDom, no new large-scale aquariums must be approved and constructed, in the interest of both animals and humans."
The origin of the fish is also disclosed neither by the planners nor by the administration. In any crime novel, the investigator would now ask: "What has the suspect got to hide?" In reality, too, such silence always has the stale aftertaste of concealment. We can only speculate, but for us, the situation (also based on our experience with "Shark City") appears to be that a large proportion of the planned marine animals will be wild-caught. With very few exceptions, such as blacktip reef sharks and oviparous (egg-laying) shark species, large sharks cannot be bred for such an aquarium; they must therefore be caught in the wild. This applies above all to sand tiger sharks, which are very popular exhibits in such aquariums.
An important aspect: from November 2023, the inclusion of all Carcharhinidae on Appendix II of the Washington Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will enter into force. Consequently, these species will no longer be available for aquarium keeping, at least as long as everything is done legitimately. This applies, among others, to species such as bull sharks, blacktip sharks, and whitetip sharks. That the populations of these shark species are threatened in the wild is evident from their listing on CITES Appendix II. This rules out any wild capture for exhibition purposes!
This means: there are no captive-bred individuals of "interesting" shark species, and wild captures are prohibited. If an operator nevertheless wishes to exhibit such species, they have a flawless motive for telling no one and keeping all documentation under lock and key.
The past has shown that animals may under certain circumstances already be "hoarded" for such projects. In the case of "Shark City", in addition to various other fish, there were two bull sharks that vegetated in their far too small tanks and ultimately died after two years.
The summary of all our objections:
- A superlative aquarium is being planned.
- Extreme energy resources are being wasted on a large-scale aquarium in times of climate change.
- In times of increasing water scarcity and falling groundwater levels, extreme volumes of water are permanently required for ongoing operations.
- Many fish (besides coral fish, presumably also sharks and rays as wild catches) are being transported over long distances with a high mortality rate to be put in an aquarium.
- Wild catches are being removed from the sea, where they are urgently needed to maintain the ecosystem.
- It is not possible to keep sharks, rays, or bony fish in an aquarium in a species-appropriate manner.
- It is not possible to keep sharks with passive respiration, such as blacktip sharks, in an aquarium in a species-appropriate manner, as these animals must swim continuously to avoid suffocation.
- Touch pools and diving are advertised, although this practice is highly controversial and subjects the animals to permanent, continuous stress.
- Utterly unrealistic visitor numbers of 500,000 visitors per year are advertised.
- The veterinary office is linked with "experts" who are themselves aquarium operators, e.g. the Berlin Zoological Garden. A self-interest cannot be ruled out here.
- Education is advertised, which is highly controversial in the context of such large-scale aquariums and often only serves as an alibi for a business model.
... and ultimately, in the event of an accident, far greater damage to the environment and potentially also to individuals will occur than at the Radisson Blue.
We already pointed out these matters to the district government on 21 September 2021, with no discernible reaction.
Let us make no mistake: this is not about a love of animals by aquarists. This is about a business on the backs (or rather, the fins) of bony fish and Elasmobranchii (the subclass of cartilaginous fish comprising rays and sharks) that must spend their usually very short lives there.
We will tackle this duplication of events from "Shark City" in exactly the same way!
