The most beautiful part of our sea at your fingertips

Monday, 20 March 2023

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A unique tourist offer in the heart of the UNESCO bay

A trip through all the seas on the planet begins with pools that show the World Sea and life in the Mediterranean Sea. The central unit represents the biodiversity of the Adriatic Sea. The third special section shows the marine life of the Bay of Kotor. Aquariums at the exit, in addition to representing life in tropical seas, are particularly interesting because in them you can also touch the sea and everything in it.

For decades, lovers of the living world of the sea and ocean have had to visit the aquarium in Dubrovnik, in neighboring Croatia, from Montenegro, as the closest place to satisfy their curiosity and get to know individual species more closely. For 70 years, the walls of the fortress of St. Ivan in the Old Town have been home to between 50 and 100 marine species, which are visited annually by about 60,000 visitors.

Last September, Montenegro also received a similar, exceptional facility in the very heart of the most protected part of the Montenegrin coast, in the Bay of Kotor, which is part of the UNESCO heritage. The newly opened "Boka Aquarium" should, without a doubt, be one of the main tourist attractions this summer.

At the entrance there are four pools that depict the World Sea and life in the Mediterranean Sea. The central unit, through seven aquariums, represents the biodiversity of the Adriatic Sea. The third special section - although with only two pools - is certainly the most precious, because it shows the marine life of the Bay of Kotor. The three aquariums at the exit, in addition to representing life in tropical seas, are particularly interesting because in them you can also touch the sea and everything in it.

"For now, we have about sixty species in the aquarium, and I can freely say that our goal is to have a hundred of them. The favorite species of the visitors who visited the aquarium so far was the stingray. They are also attracted by seahorses and jellyfish - which we do not look forward to when we meet them in nature, but also how they fascinate us with their movements when they are in controlled conditions. Octopus also attract special attention, as do cuttlefish when they are swimming and not buried in the sand. In addition to them, the kernja is also interesting for visitors - as the largest species in the aquarium, with a specific skeletal shape," said Pestorić from the Center for the Protection of Adriatic Biodiversity.

A special place for pebbles and corals

The aquarium was once unavailable to visitors. Although it was opened last fall, during March and April, work was done in a hurry so that the entire center was expanded and received new contents that can be seen from the end of May.

Two new aquariums were installed. The fiberglass pool, which is three meters wide, two meters high, and 1.9 meters deep, is now the largest in the Kotor aquarium. It hosts species that live in the open sea.

"It is adapted to inhabiting corals, which are extremely important organisms in every sea, including ours. Among them is the so-called 'golden coral', which is more numerous in the Bay of Kotor than in the entire Mediterranean Sea. This is another proof that our aquarium is the most beautiful," Pestorić revealed to us.