In October last year, I visited the Lisbon Oceanarium and explored it on a rainy day. Despite the lively crowds, I was able to observe many impressive marine animals up close and enjoy the diversity of the underwater world. In this blog post, I share my personal impressions and experiences from the Lisbon Oceanarium.
Lisbon Oceanarium
The sky hung heavy above me, and as soon as I woke up, it was clear: this would not be a sunny day. Yet I had planned this day very differently. I was supposed to take a trip to the Sado River to go birdwatching, and only the following morning – just before my departure – visit the Lisbon Oceanarium. After all, the Lisbon Oceanarium is located in the Parque das Nações district, very close to the airport.
But the rain put a stop to my plans. Instead of a day by the river, I now had a full day at the Lisbon Oceanarium – not just half a day.
But is a full day at the Oceanarium actually necessary?
Early in the morning, I set out for the Lisbon Oceanarium. My plan was to be there right when it opened. However, since I arrived a little too early, I used the time for a short detour to the nearby Jardim do Cabeço das Rolas – after all, Eurasian hoopoes are said to be seen there.
In the end, I reached the Lisbon Oceanarium just a few minutes after opening and was surprised by how many people were already waiting in line. For a moment, I got a bit worried, as I hadn’t reserved a ticket in advance. But that concern turned out to be unnecessary: I got in without any problems and didn’t even have to wait long – less than half an hour.
Information: If you’re interested in birds: the day before, I spent an entire day birdwatching in the Tagus Estuary, which is part of the Lisbon metropolitan area. You can find a detailed report about it in a separate blog post.
Even before my visit, I had a feeling that the Lisbon Oceanarium would be very crowded – and that’s exactly how it turned out. On the one hand, this made the visit quite tiring; on the other, I was pleased to see how much interest there is in the marine world. I especially hoped that some of the children would experience the aquarium in a way that keeps their curiosity about the underwater world alive beyond this visit. In fact, many families with children were exploring the Lisbon Oceanarium.
The tour began with an introduction to the work of Takashi Amano.
Takashi Amano was a Japanese photographer and designer. As a passionate aquarist – someone deeply involved in the care and design of aquariums – he specialized in photographing and creating aquatic landscapes.
At the time of my visit, the Lisbon Oceanarium was hosting the temporary exhibition “Forests Underwater by Takashi Amano.” Amano was best known for his so-called nature aquariums, in which natural landscapes are recreated underwater. At the Oceanarium, the thematic focus was on tropical forests.
I took my time and observed the aquarium at a relaxed pace. Soft music filled the room as I tried to fully immerse myself in the underwater world and tune out the loud murmur of the many other visitors in my mind.
In designing his aquariums, Takashi Amano drew on elements of Japanese garden art and combined them with the concept of Wabi-Sabi. As I am not deeply familiar with these design and philosophical principles, I will deliberately refrain from further interpretation.
The space was bathed in a deep green tone. I found the overall subdued lighting very pleasant and almost calming.
My gaze wandered through the aquarium as I searched for the fish. Several of them had striking red markings – whether this was a deliberate design choice? Red and green as a contrast. Among them were likely angelfish, a South Asian carp species, an Australian freshwater herring, a danio, and one additional species.
Question: Do you know about fish species? I would really appreciate a comment and help with identification. Your knowledge could also be helpful to other interested readers. Thank you very much!
I eventually made my way to the large aquarium. According to the Lisbon Oceanarium, it contains 5 million liters of seawater. The centerpiece is a main tank surrounded by four marine habitats. Visitors are meant to get the impression that it is one single, continuous aquarium – almost like an entire ocean.
The exhibition presents both terrestrial and marine ecosystems and covers different climate zones: temperate, tropical, and cold oceans.
In the next section, I will share which fish, birds, invertebrates, and mammals I was able to discover in the aquarium.
Information: If you’d like to explore another aquarium, I’ve written about the aquarium in Monaco in one of my earlier posts. The Ozeaneum Stralsund in northern Germany might also be of interest to some readers.
The aquarium
Fish
Arriving at the large main aquarium, I let my gaze wander across the fish. As mentioned before, it was very crowded, and it was often not easy to find a spot from which to observe the fish in peace. Especially for smaller visitors, it could quickly happen that the view of the tank was blocked. So it’s worth planning enough time and bringing some patience. On that day, due to the large number of people, it was hardly possible to move from one spot to another without waiting. Perhaps it was because of the rainy weather – or is the Lisbon Oceanarium always this busy?
Despite everything, it was extremely fascinating. The sharks, in particular, immediately caught my eye. The aquarium housed sandbar sharks, sand tiger sharks, blacktip reef sharks, and whitetip reef sharks – impressive specimens that instantly drew attention.
Information: At the Great Barrier Reef, I had already had the opportunity to go snorkeling. There, I encountered not only sea turtles but also reef sharks. You can find a detailed report in one of my earlier blog posts – feel free to check it out.
Due to the lighting conditions and the speed at which the sharks were moving, I obviously wasn’t able to photograph them well.
One fish that particularly fascinated me and truly captivated me was the ocean sunfish. It is one of the heaviest bony fish and can weigh over 2 tons! For comparison: a blue whale weighs between 100 and 150 tons – in exceptional cases even up to 200 tons. Numbers like these are almost impossible for me to grasp. Even though the ocean sunfish seems like a lightweight in comparison to the blue whale, I still admired it deeply.
Information: I have already had the opportunity to observe ocean sunfish in the Mediterranean. On the one hand, off the east coast of Spain, while I was searching for fin whales, and on the other hand in the Strait of Gibraltar during a whale and dolphin watching trip near Tarifa.
Among the rays, the Lisbon Oceanarium reportedly features bull rays, bluespotted ribbontail rays, Australian guitarfish, round stingrays, and small devil rays. Rays are recognizable by their characteristic flattened body shape. Like sharks, they belong to the cartilaginous fish, in contrast to ocean sunfish, which are bony fish.
Unlike the ocean sunfish, sharks and rays do not have a bony skeleton but a flexible cartilaginous one – and they also lack a swim bladder, which nevertheless makes them remarkably agile swimmers.
Their large pectoral fins, which are fused to the head, are particularly striking and give them their distinctive, elegant shape.
In addition to sharks, rays, and ocean sunfish, there were numerous other fish to discover. One that particularly caught my eye was the blackspotted puffer, which immediately looked familiar – I had seen exactly this species before at the aquarium in Monaco. It is one of the more common pufferfish species in the coral reefs of the Indo-Pacific and also seems to be especially popular in aquariums.
Clownfish are of course also very popular in aquariums. At the Lisbon Oceanarium, I came across a so-called false percula clownfish. Why is it called that? Maybe because it closely resembles the percula clownfish and is easily confused with it? To be honest, I’m not entirely sure why the word “false” is used in its name. Perhaps the percula clownfish was identified first, and the false percula clownfish was initially mistaken for the same species—until it was later recognized as a separate species.
Of course, where there are clownfish, surgeonfish are not far behind. At the Lisbon Oceanarium, I came across a blue surgeonfish. Like clownfish, they are originally native to the Indo-Pacific.
Also fascinating was the Australian pinecone fish, also known as the pineapplefish. Its spiky, reddish-yellow body does indeed resemble a pineapple – but that is far from the only remarkable thing about it. At night, it can produce a blue-green light through special light organs containing bacteria, which it uses during nocturnal hunting. A truly fascinating fish!
I also found animals fascinating that don’t look like typical fish at first glance – such as the seadragon (left photo) and the leafy seadragon (right photo). Thanks to their extraordinary appearance, they are perfectly camouflaged in algae-rich habitats. Both the seadragon and the leafy seadragon belong to the pipefish family. They are bony fish, a group that also includes seahorses.
A rather slow-moving fish in the aquarium was the old wife. It is endemic to the coast of southern Australia, meaning it is found exclusively there – apart from aquariums. Why is it called old wife? It is said to come from the fact that the fish can produce sounds reminiscent of the scolding or grumbling of an old woman. If that is indeed true, I find this name rather inappropriate. In my view, such a beautiful fish deserves a more fitting name.
Of course, there were still numerous other fish to discover. These included the longnose surgeonfish, which can be seen further up in the center of the image and is easy to recognize thanks to its distinctly elongated nose.
There were also wolf eels, Garibaldi damselfish, leopard morays, golden kingfish, spotted ratfish, and many other species. This selection is meant to give only a small impression of the diversity of fish at the Lisbon Oceanarium.
Invertebrates
Among the invertebrate inhabitants of the Lisbon Oceanarium are, of course, corals. These are sessile, colonial cnidarians that are mainly found in tropical waters. Corals live in symbiosis with single-celled algae: while the coral provides the algae with shelter and nutrients, the algae supply the energy needed for the coral’s survival and the formation of its calcium carbonate skeleton through photosynthesis.
Particularly fascinating were the fluorescent corals. Their glowing pigments are thought to protect the corals from excessive sunlight, while also giving them an almost magical appearance.
In addition to corals, the Lisbon Oceanarium also featured anemones, starfish, octopuses, and jellyfish. What you see here is just a very small photographic glimpse into the fascinating world of marine invertebrates – a diversity that inspires both admiration and wonder. Their shapes, colors, and movements show just how rich and surprising life under water can be.
Birds
Although I wasn’t very successful with birdwatching outside on that rainy day, I was able to see typical seabirds at the Lisbon Oceanarium. However, I didn’t stay with them for long – it was simply too crowded. Visitors were gathering in front of the seabird exhibit, and it was hardly possible to get a proper, undisturbed view. So I moved on to find a bit more space to breathe.
That said, I can fully understand the crowds around the birds: they were truly beautiful animals, even though I have already observed them in the wild. Among them was, for example, the Atlantic puffin.
However, the puffins did not have the brightly colored beaks typical of the breeding season, and their plumage also appeared somewhat dirty. This is hardly how one usually sees these birds in the wild, as during the winter they live as solitary birds out on the open sea and are difficult to observe. As a result, they are rarely seen in this rather unremarkable appearance. It is only with the onset of the breeding season that they return to land and once again display their striking, colorful appearance.
In addition to the puffins, there were also common guillemots to admire at the Lisbon Oceanarium. While I have only observed puffins in Iceland, I have encountered common guillemots both on Heligoland and in Iceland. Both puffins and guillemots belong to the auk family, which also includes razorbills and black guillemots – species that can likewise be found on Heligoland and in Iceland.
However, I didn’t stay with the guillemots for long either, as it was simply too crowded and cramped.
Another seabird I could see at the Lisbon Oceanarium was the Magellanic penguin. It originates from South America, and unfortunately I have not yet had the chance to observe it in the wild – unlike the African penguin. Both the Magellanic and the African penguin belong to the genus of banded penguins, meaning they are closely related and look quite similar. This group also includes the Humboldt penguin and the Galápagos penguin.
At the Magellanic penguins, however, the flow of visitors was much more relaxed, so it was possible to observe them at leisure.
Mammals
Among the mammals at the Lisbon Oceanarium, there is only one species to see – the sea otter. Fortunately, there were very few people at their enclosure, making it easy to observe the animals in peace. I watched one otter calmly swimming back and forth, completely unfazed by the curious gazes of the visitors.
Sea otters are native to the coasts of the North Pacific. They spend most of their lives in the ocean, often among dense kelp forests, where they find their favorite food: sea urchins. These sea urchins feed on kelp, and without sea otters, they would overgraze the forests. Sea otters are therefore a true keystone species, helping to maintain the balance of their ecosystem.
What fascinated me most is their fur. Unlike other marine mammals, sea otters do not have a thick layer of blubber. Instead, they rely on exceptionally dense fur—the densest of any animal, according to scientists—which keeps them warm in cold water. As if that weren’t impressive enough, they also use tools such as stones to crack open the hard shells of their prey.
The two sea otters at the Lisbon Oceanarium have a touching story. They were found as weak, only a few weeks old, along the coast of Alaska and were rescued and rehabilitated. Without human care, they would have had little chance of surviving in the wild because they lacked the skills needed to live independently. Today, they can be observed here—alive, curious, and truly remarkable.
Information: Although I haven’t had the chance to see sea otters in the wild yet, I’ve been fortunate to observe many other fascinating marine mammals, including seals, whales, and dolphins around the world. If you’d like to read more about these experiences, feel free to explore my other blog posts.
Lisbon
Do you need a full day at the Lisbon Oceanarium?
I can’t give a clear answer to that. I only spent half a day there because, after a while, it simply became too much for me: too many people, narrow walkways, and at times it was difficult to move around. It was extremely busy, and a large part of the visit was spent waiting just to get a good view of the exhibits. So I can’t give a definite “yes” or “no.”
That said, I do think the Lisbon Oceanarium is well worth a visit—provided you’re interested in marine life. And, of course, Lisbon itself is well worth exploring. You’ll find plenty of blog posts with the city’s main attractions, so instead I’d like to end this article by sharing a few photographic impressions of Lisbon.
Question: Do you enjoy visiting aquariums, or are they not really your thing? Do you find it fascinating to experience the underwater world up close through the glass, even when it gets quite crowded? What’s your opinion? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!
More information
Official website of the Lisbon Oceanarium (Oceanário de Lisboa)
Other blog posts:
The Oceanographic Museum in Monaco
The Ozeaneum in Stralsund
Aquarium with a red coral in Alghero
Have you visited the Lisbon Oceanarium, or another aquarium somewhere else in the world? Feel free to leave a comment and share your experience!
