Nagoya Port

It may have taken well over an hour to arrive at Nagoyako – bus, train and subway – but it was well worth the trip. The Aquarium is spectacular. As you walk through the doors, you are greeted with a view of dolphins cavorting in the large, expansive tank. The animals enjoy performing, diving, jumping, gracefully swimming on their backs and coming right up to the window to watch you, watching them. They’re magnificent.

There’s also an orca whale swimming through the different tanks, always with a small dolphin by his side. It’s spectacular to watch him fill the window as he moves from one area to another.

Traveling up to the 2nd floor, you can see the open tanks and the ‘performance’ area. The tanks are all interconnected, allowing the animals to move from one to another, or to be isolated for training – or waiting to perform. We watched the keeper playing with the orca. The whale brought a hula hoop up to her and played with it, teasing her and not letter her have it. Finally, the trainer quit playing and used hand signs to have the whale give it to her, which he did (and, of course, got a fish in return).

The actual show was fabulous. The dolphins were the stars. They cavorted about the tank, jumping and flipping in unison – including 6 of them jumping out of the water together. Pretty remarkable what they can do – and they seemed to love doing it.

More to come….the aquarium was huge!