Staring in awe at the fishes’ natural (well, almost anyway) habitat, one can’t help but feel like an intruder. Here you are, safely behind a thick glass bubble, trying to imagine how life is amidst the sharks, eels, and multitudes of fishes. Going into the cold, dark sections of the aquariums was like entering a whole new world where creatures move ever so gracefully, quietly going about their business of looking for the day’s "catch" or simply living as they were meant to live.
At the Underwater World in Sentosa (upon the invitation of the Singapore Tourism Board in cooperation with Singapore Airlines), it’s easy to lose track of time once you enter the aquarium. After a brief encounter with all kinds of sea turtles – Hawksbill, Loggerhead, Pacific Olive Ridley and Green Turtle – one is ushered into the cool (and literally too as the weather outside could get so warm) kingdom of Poseidon. If you’re the touchy kind, you’re better off heading to the Touch Pool where you can have close contact with the likes of stingrays and small, harmless sharks. Children have lots of fun picking up starfish, turning them over to see their pale undersides. Now, if you fancy yourself as a future Jeff Corwin or Steve Irwin, then head off to the Singapore Wetlands section where otters, monitor lizards, mud crabs, sea turtles, and other freshwater and estuarine creatures abound. We’re not quite sure if they have snakes and crocs, though, but it’s still worth checking out.
The most exciting part of the tour, however, is located deep into the Underwater World. As in the ocean, the deeper you go, the more fascinating the creatures that you’ll see. Like fish, we "swam" our way through the "schools" of equally curious bipedaled creatures to get a good view of the cuttlefish and a colony of seahorses, including a tank where two weeks old seahorses are horsing around. A sight straight out of an Alien movie was the Bamboo Shark eggs where embryos at various stages of development was illuminated and displayed for all to see. Upon closer inspection, one could see that the embryos were wriggling. Eerie but awe-inspiring. A personal favorite is the huge tank filled with sea dragons. Don’t be fooled and think that you’re just looking at a seaweed tank. Look closely and you’ll see the same "seaweeds" flicking a "branch" and floating from one end to the other. Those are the sea dragons, master water chameleons which come in a colorful package from flaming orange to sunny yellow dotted with dark spots.
The basement at the Underwater World is where the action is. After a brief stop at a tank to marvel at the ghostly specter of jellyfish, visitors are immediately drawn to the moving walkway (very much like those found at Changi Airport) and into the 83-meter and 6-meter deep cylindrical tunnel to view some 5,000-6,000 marine creatures belonging to more or less 350 species. Here one will witness how leopard, nurse, blacktip and whitetip sharks hunt for their prey, how stingrays and shovel nose rays spread their wing-like torsos and "fly", and how giant groupers got their names. It is interesting to note how groupers – measuring at least four to five feet – stick together and swim as a team, and very gracefully at that too. The sharks look menacing enough and are huge. But looking up at their white, seemingly soft underbellies would make you want to automatically reach out and touch them. You wonder if the sharks could really see you and whether they’re considering you as fish feed.
By the way, while in the tunnel, look closely and you’ll probably get a glimpse of Gracie, a dugong the Underwater World is taking care of. She’s cute, chubby and simply adorable. Pity, we didn’t get to see the Pink Dolphin Show (the dolphins are pinkish in color and, no, it’s not sunburn).
The following day, Singapore Airlines’ A340-500 took us to Jakarta where we got a chance to see its own version of underwater kingdom. Located at Taman Ria Ancol, Seaworld is home to around 4,000 fish and sharks belonging to about 300 species. Its underwater tunnel is said to be filled with about 500 million liters of seawater. A large cylindrical glass standing more than 6 feet tall greets visitors upon entering the area. A closer look would reveal small pale fishes which look suspiciously like milk fish. There was no tag to identify the fish so we won’t be able to confirm whether it was, indeed, the famous bangus. Attracting onlookers is an open pool with a bridge constructed over it. There, visitors can touch blacktip charks or gawk at the black stingrays and what seemed to be giant leeches. Well, nobody dared touch those leech-like biggies.
A favorite stop, as well, was the giant tank where seven-foot arowanas thrive. Here one could sit beside the glass and look at – and be stared at in return – these curious-looking giant fish that resembles our very own hito or catfish. One look at these creatures, co-existing peacefully with the arowanas, will take away any desire on your part to eat inihaw na hito ever again.
A must-see, of course, is Seaworld’s tunnel where you’ll get to see the resident giant manta ray, bigger than those found in the Underwater World. Though its scientific name escapes us now, this particular manta ray probably measured six or seven feet in diameter. When it draped its whole body on the glass above our heads, it felt like there was a total eclipse as it blocked out the light from above. It looked ancient even. The nurse sharks, on the other hand, were quite entertaining to look at especially when it tried to get near the gaping mouth of a pipe where tons of seawater were coming out. Facial therapy was never this amusing. While we consider ourselves lucky to have witnessed how these marine animals feed, we were also quite shocked at the sight of small fish being lapped up with wicked abandon by the bigger creatures. Truly, the survival of the fittest is alive and well in nature’s food chain.
Looking at the sea creatures seemingly staring back at you could be disconcerting sometimes, and you feel like you’re the one being observed, a source of amusement of sorts for these marine animals. Good thing the glass of the aquariums are thick enough to offer some form of security. So this is how a plankton or a wee guppie feels like, you mutter to yourself.
Unless one is a diver, many people are actually clueless about what’s happening in the deep, blue sea. And, if these aquariums are any indication, my, what a busy world the underwater world is. In a way, these aquariums are "think tanks", that is, these glass tanks make you think about your existence – and responsibilities – on this planet. We still have a lot to learn, more secrets to discover. To quote a National Geographic Magazine interview with Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute senior scientist Bruce Robison, who has been conducting deep sea expeditions in frigid waters for the past four years studying new species of marine life, "The deep sea is the largest habitat on our planet, and yet it’s still the most unexplored."
Thanks to these giant aquariums, we get to have a glimpse of – and learn about – the ocean’s mysteries.