LSS 35 years old

In July, Kaiyukan will celebrate its 35th anniversary. At the same time, LSS will also celebrate its 35th anniversary. LSS is an acronym for Life support system, which means "life support device" in Japanese. It sounds cool, but the system is not that different from keeping ornamental fish at home, as it "filters the water in the tank, adjusts the water temperature, and returns it to the tank". So, "What is different?" The fact that a wide variety of creatures are kept in the overwhelmingly large tank, and that detailed management of the water quality is carried out 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Water quality management is improving every day, and we will continue to learn new techniques and do our best to provide you with lively creatures in cleaner tank!

Aquarium equipment story

2025.06.23

Iburi News 97 "Second installment of the Siebold Exploration Team"

Please refer to Iburi Newsletter 92 for the first installment. Well, it's getting hot, so isn't it almost earthworm season? With that in mind, we've reunited the Siebold Search Team! We'll also be interviewing our neighbors and searching in places that look suspicious, and places where we've seen them before! There's something there! Ah...G...it's really fast...a bagworm...? Will it grow into a moth in the future? Oh! A thick earthworm! Could it be...? But it's not metallic blue...We didn't find any Siebold earthworms this time either...I'm sure there will be more once the rainy season comes! Please look forward to the third installment of the Siebold Search Team!

Marine Biological Research Institute "Iburi Center"

2025.06.21

A baby sea lion was born!

A baby California sea lion was born at 8:00 a.m. on June 12, 2025 in the Monterey Bay tank . The mother's nickname is Asuka. Asuka has given birth three times in the past, and this is her fourth birth. Sea lions can only get pregnant for a very short period of the year, and it is difficult to pinpoint the date of birth. In order to create an environment where Asuka can give birth with peace of mind, we worked closely with veterinarians to train her, including conducting pre-examination ultrasound scans and weight measurements. However, as May approached, Asuka became more nervous day by day, perhaps due to the fact that she was nearing the time of birth, and her examinations and training, which had been going smoothly until then, became unstable. Her belly grew bigger and bigger, and her weight rose to its highest level ever. The situation continued, and the aquarium keeper were nervous every day as the baby could be born at any time. Then, on June 11, Asuka stopped eating, and we were convinced that this was a sign of the long-awaited birth. After continuing observation around the clock, birth began at around 6am the following morning. Two hours later, under the watchful eye of many aquarium keeper, the baby was safely born! *↓This is a video of the birth scene, so please be careful when watching* The baby seemed healthy, and a few hours later, she was seen nursing. The baby is male, weighing 9.4kg, and both mother and child are in good health!!! *Asuka is Asuka's first son after four births. The baby is over a week old, and his range of movement and repertoire are expanding rapidly. He's still small and hiding behind rocks, so it may be a little hard to see from the viewing path, but we'll be sure to keep you updated on his growth!

Baby Blog

2025.06.20

Congratulations! Winner of the Koga Award

I have introduced the artificial breeding research of the Southern rockhopper penguin many times on my blog. Last year, the second chick in the world was born through artificial insemination using frozen semen! The chick has now grown to the same size as an adult and is doing well. This artificial breeding research of the Southern rockhopper penguin has won the Koga Award, established by the Japan Association of Zoos and Aquariums! Koga Award! What's that? I've never heard of it before... That's right, the Koga Award is not well known in the general public, but it is actually a very impressive award in this industry and is the most prestigious award given to zoos and aquariums in Japan. It is an award given to those who have achieved particularly outstanding results in the breeding of rare animals or who have succeeded in breeding a species that is difficult to breed and is globally important, and this is the first time that Kaiyukan has received this award. The other day, I attended the award ceremony with staff from Kasai Rinkai Aquarium and Kaiyukan. (The breeding research of the Southern rockhopper penguin is a joint project between Kasai Rinkai Park and Kaiyukan Aquarium Kaiyukan.) Here is a picture of the award ceremony. (Courtesy of Toyohashi Zoo and Botanical Gardens) We were a little nervous at the award ceremony held in a venue with a magnificent gold folding screen, but everyone was smiling at the end. (Courtesy of Toyohashi Zoo and Botanical Gardens) After the award ceremony, we also held a commemorative lecture. (Courtesy of Southern rockhopper penguin) This research started in 2011 and is now in its 15th year. During that time, three chicks were born through artificial insemination. We are finally seeing progress in elucidating the reproductive physiology of the Southern rockhopper penguin and developing artificial insemination technology. Our goal from here is to use this technology to solve the breeding problem (low reproductive rate) of the Rockhopper penguin in Japan. The ultimate goal of this research is to use this artificial breeding technology to help conserve penguins in the wild. The population of wild Southern rockhopper penguin has declined due to factors such as a decline in prey species caused by climate change and increased fishing, and they are at risk of extinction, as they are listed as "vulnerable" on the Red List established by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It may not be the right time to use this technology yet, but if the penguins are ever in danger, we hope to be able to protect their future by using the breeding techniques we have acquired only in captivity at a zoo or aquarium. [Past blogs about artificial breeding] Challenge of artificial insemination (2024.04.27) Achieving a world-first feat in collaboration with Kasai Rinkai Aquarium (2022.08.16) We tried again this year (2021.08.08) Artificial breeding of Southern rockhopper penguin(2018.05.07)

penguin

2025.06.19

Mouth view

This is a selfin pleco in the backyard. It is being raised to grow big so that it can be displayed in the "Ecuador Rain Forest" tank. This pleco is stuck to the acrylic glass. The mouth of the pleco is like a suction cup, and it can stick like this. Let's zoom in on the mouth even more. Can you see the small teeth lined up on the outside of the orange part? The shape of the mouth of plecos varies depending on the species. Herbivorous plecos have wide, flat mouths with V-shaped teeth, while carnivorous plecos have tapered mouths with sharp teeth. Since selfin plecos are herbivorous, they scrape off moss and algae from rocks and eat them, or tear off aquatic plants and eat them. Normally, you don't have much opportunity to see their mouths when they are on display, so I was able to take a good look at them in the backyard. Large selfin plecos with stylish whiskers are in the left corner of the "Ecuador Rain Forest". However, they hide during the day and sometimes come out after dusk. You might be lucky if you find them?

Fish

2025.06.17

The Sea of Hokkaido

The other day, I went to Muroran, Hokkaido for a jellyfish study group, and was able to see jellyfish in the local sea. The sea temperature in Hokkaido is still low, dropping to nearly 10°C. It was very cold and painful when I put my hand in the sea. Because the sea temperature is much lower than Osaka Bay, there were many jellyfish that cannot be seen in Osaka Bay. This time, I will introduce two types of jellyfish. First, please look at this photo. These white dots are actually all jellyfish. This jellyfish is called a Shiro Kurage (Japanese Name), and is a familiar jellyfish from "Jellyfish". This was my first time seeing a white Shiro Kurage (Japanese Name) in the wild, but I didn't expect there to be so many of them. (As expected of the sea of ​​Hokkaido...) Next is this jellyfish. Some people may think that this jellyfish is a Moon jelly, which is often seen in Osaka Bay. However, this individual is not a Moon jelly, but a northern moon Moon jelly, which is a different species of Moon jelly from a moon jellyfish. A distinctive feature of this northern moon Moon jelly is that the edge of the umbrella is brown. Currently, the Kaiyukan Kaiyukan is exhibiting Moon jelly and northern moon Moon jelly, so please take a look and compare them for yourself. This time, we were able to find many other jellyfish in addition to these two species, and learn about their ecology in cold waters. If we have another opportunity, we will introduce other jellyfish as well!

Invertebrates

2025.06.15

The origin of stripes

For many people, Osaka is known for its Tigers baseball team. The newest member of "Special Exhibition "Cute and tight" is the Stripey . It is currently around 4cm in size. When it grows up, it looks like this (this is the Stripey from "Aqua Gate" ). It is 6-7cm in size. If you think of the stripes on a fish with its head facing up, the Stripey has vertical stripes, while the long-finned Sailfin tang behind it has horizontal stripes. Doesn't the yellow and black stripes look very tiger-like? Personally, I like how the black stripes connect to the eyes and the eyes move around. The Stripey scouted by "Special Exhibition "Cute and tight" this time came from Iburi in Kochi Prefecture. Apparently they live in tide pools in early spring. The Stripey that came to Osaka look like this. The small ones are less than 2cm in size, and the stripe pattern is still unclear. How will these stripes change? I was curious, so I did a little research. According to Kaikyokan's observations, the egg diameter of the Stripey is about 1mm, and about 1.5mm immediately after hatching, but after 54 hours it is about 3mm. After two weeks it is about 4mm. I used the Illustrated Guide to Japanese Fish Fry (Okiyama 1988) and other information on the Internet to help me understand the progression of the stripe pattern. I'm sorry that the size is not uniform and it's hard to see because it's freehand. At first it was spindle-shaped, but as the body height gradually increased, the stripes first appeared on the head, lateral line, under the dorsal fin, etc., and you can see that the number also increases. The little one in the third photo is the third from the bottom, and the one currently on display seems to be the closest to the bottom. The bulge on the head, which is the origin of the name Stripey, also appears at about 4cm. I hope you can actually see the formation of the stripe pattern of this Stripey.

Fish

2025.06.13

Various otters

The last Wednesday of May is "World Otter Day", which was established by the International Otter Survival Fund (IOSF) to raise awareness of the current situation of otters. This year it was May 28th. Our aquarium has been supporting this since 2018 and has been holding various events, and this year we held a special course where we played games and made eco-bags. We also posted information about otters at the aquarium keeper counter on the 4th floor of the entrance building. When you think of otters, many of you probably think of the Asian small clawed otter that we have at our aquarium. However, there are 13 species of otters in the world. In addition to the Asian Asian small clawed otter, there are four other species that can be seen at Japanese aquariums: the Eurasian otter, the Canadian otter, the Asian small-clawed otter, and the sea otter. In the past, we could also see the smooth-coated otter. Of these, there are only a few sea otters left in aquariums, but their numbers are increasing in Hokkaido, so they are the only species that can be seen in the wild. However, I feel that many people don't understand that sea otters are a type of otter... Also, the Eurasian otter is very close to the Japanese otter, which is said to be extinct, and it is said that the otters in Tsushima, whose existence has been talked about recently, are likely to be Eurasian otters of Korean origin. This is a stuffed Japanese otter on display at Tosashimizu City Hall. There are several places in Kochi that have stuffed otters, so if you're interested, please go and see them. Looking at the classification of otters, they are divided into seven genera. Genus Lutra (2 species) EURASIAN OTTER HAIRY NOSEED OTTER Genus Lutrogale (1 species) SMOOTH COATED OTTER Genus Lontra (4 species) NORTH AMERICAN RIVER OTTER MARIN OTTER NEOTROPICAL OTTER SOUTHERN RIVER OTTER Genus Hydrictis (1 species) SPOTTED NECKED OTTER Genus Pteronura (1 species) GIANT OTTER Genus Aonyx (3 species) AFRICAN CLAWLESS OTTER ASIAN SHORT Asian small clawed otter OTTER Congo Clawless Otter (Enhydra genus, 1 species) Sea Otter (SEA OTTER) Looking at the distribution map further... Of these, there are three species in Africa, the Congo Clawless Otter, the Spotted Otter, and the Giant River Otter, four species in South America, the Giant River Otter, the Sea Otter, the Long-tailed Otter, and the Chilean River Otter, and the Canadian River Otter and Sea Otter in North America. However, sea otters can also be found in Russia and Japan. The Eurasian otter is found widely across the Eurasian continent, and the Sumatran otter, Smooth-coated otter, and Asian small clawed otter are found in Southeast Asia. Comparing distribution and classification, the three species, excluding the giant river otter, which lives in South America, are closely related to the Canadian river otter, which lives in North America, and the Sumatran otter in Southeast Asia is closely related to the Eurasian otter. We can see that the African clawless otter and the Congo clawless otter are closely related to the Asian Asian small clawed otter in Southeast Asia. I guess otters that lived in one place went to another place and increased in number there. It's amazing to think about. This is a marine otter that a staff member of our museum saw when he went to Chile a few years ago. It's the size of a pea. It's a small otter that mainly lives near the sea, but it seems that several of them have been seen moving far away. It's wonderful to see otters in the natural sea. There are many different types of otters, he said.

Asian small clawed otter

2025.06.11

Ringed seal thing in the morning

Hello everyone! This time, we will be introducing the Ringed seal in the "Arctic Region" tank first thing in the morning. First, when we entered the tank, Moya had come up onto land. He must have come ashore during the night, as his fur was dry and fluffy. It's rare to see fluffy seals during the day, so if you do, be sure to capture him on camera! Moya recently finished his annual molt, and his fur has grown back into a beautiful ring pattern. Yuki and Arale were swimming happily in the tank. Please come and meet the Ringed seal!

Ringed seal

2025.06.09

Growing freely...

Ta-da! These are cucumbers growing freely in the back yard. Starting in April, we started growing bitter melon, cucumbers, and carrots to use for enrichment of the creatures! In the April blog, "Small Spring, Small Life," we showed you the adorable sight of the newly sprouted vegetables (^ ^ ♪ And here are the bitter melon, cucumber, and carrot after one month!! They've all grown so well! We're so happy! When we artificially pollinated the bitter melon, small fruits appeared...! We were very careful because the bitter melon flowers fall off easily when touched... The cucumber is now taller than the aquarium keeper(cucumber vines have a hard time wrapping around the smooth surface of the posts!) The carrots are growing a little slowly... If you're a carrot master, please give us some advice! We'll continue to do our best to provide enrichment using the vegetables we harvest!!

plant

2025.06.07

Special lecture "World Otter Day"

The last Wednesday of May is "World Otter Day"! A little early, on May 17th and 18th, Kaiyukan held a special lecture where participants could learn about otters in a fun way. On the 17th, elementary school students and above and their guardians were invited, and on the 18th, adults were invited. The lecture included watching otters being fed, making original eco-bags, and playing board games, while thinking about otters and conservation together with the participants. Every year, I am the one who is in charge of thinking about what theme to talk about about otters, but this year's theme was "How to find wild otters"! So, I looked at photos of the habitat of Asian small clawed otter, such as landscapes, burrows, and feces that I actually saw in Malaysia, where Asian small-clawed otters live, and talked about Tsushima Island in Nagasaki Prefecture, where otters were discovered in 2017. When asked, "How do you think they find out about the habitats listed in the picture book?", the participants were initially stumped, but as they listened to the explanation, they started to think, "I see..." "Where are the droppings? Whose footprints are those?" Then, with their heads full of otters, they started making their own eco-bags! They completed tote bags using Kaiyukan original otter stamps and pens, and everyone's sense was amazing! They were all so nice that I wanted one myself. By the way, the stamps in the shape of the paws were made based on a mold that was made with the cooperation of the Kaiyukan Asian small clawed otter at Kaiyukan, so the shape and spread of the paws are real~(*^▽^*)The second half of the talk was about otter conservation. Using a board game, the participants were able to feel how the things we are familiar with are connected to Southeast Asia, where the Asian small clawed otter clawed otters live, and what they can do to protect otters from faraway Japan. I hope that this special lecture will be an opportunity for people to "understand the issues surrounding otters as their own problem, take action from what they can do, and continue doing it." This week, otter breeding facilities around Japan are holding various events and sharing information, so be sure to check them out.

Event Report

2025.06.05

Yuki's Belly Slap

Hello everyone! Today, I would like to introduce you to an event that Yuki, the Ringed seal seal, is good at. It's "belly slapping"!!! He can make a very loud sound by spreading the fingers of his front legs as wide as he can. Here is a video of him doing it. It makes a nice "bang!" sound, doesn't it? However, when Yuki's fur is dry, his "belly slapping" makes a different sound. What do you think? Compared to when he's wet, it makes a somewhat uneasy puffing sound. Every day, we check for any injuries on his front legs or belly by checking the movements and sounds of his belly slapping. If you come to Kaiyukan , please take a look at the Ringed seal tank in the "Arctic Region" ! You might even hear the "belly slapping sound" of Yuki slapping his belly.

Ringed seal

2025.06.03