Acuario Poema del Mar

Acuario Poema del Mar is a large public aquarium in Spain, and the building greets you with one curved sheet of methacrylate. The panel weighs about 140 tonnes, spans some thirty-six metres and rises seven metres tall. It is the aquarium's signature, one enormous viewing window onto the deep.

The visit falls into three chapters, and each one changes the water around you. You begin in shallow coastal habitats, then follow the walkway out to the reef. There a cylindrical tank holds more than 400,000 litres, and thousands of fish glide over artificial coral. The route ends in the deep sea, a calm, dimly lit zone of large animals. Altogether the tanks hold more than 350 species. You meet a small group of sharks, local fish from nearby waters and tropical vegetation in the river and lagoon exhibits. One deck belongs to island marine life, with more than 100 morays on its own.

Behind the scenes, display and conservation share the same roof. A turtle hospital cares for injured or sick sea turtles in a dedicated recovery tank. The biology team produces video guides and an app, while scientific workshops and benefit events raise money and awareness. The route works for wheelchairs from start to finish. One picture stays: light drifting through a thousand fish, seven metres of acrylic holding the sea back.