The Deception of Hengchun's Marine Biology Museum

At first glance, the title might seem slightly contrivable, but hear me out.  Part of our hatred of the Marine Biology Museum comes from a lack of research on our part; in Chinese, the name of the museum is 國立海洋生物博物館 or the National Museum of Marine Biology.  This gives the impression of an actual museum, and what came to mind for us is something reminiscent of a regular science museum, such as the ones in Kaohsiung and Taichung.  This, of course, was a lack of research on our part.

The official English name of 國立海洋生物博物館 includes the term 'aquarium,' which brings the connotation of a marine zoo, where animals are cramped in small spaces and forced to perform ridiculous tricks.  For a full explanation of why we both feel very strongly about not supporting zoos (terrestrial or marine), have a look at this eloquent article about zoos in general, this article specifically about aquariums, or have a look at the trailer for Black Fish, a documentary that takes a long, hard look at the unethical practices of aquariums (namely that they kidnap wild animals out of the wild and stuff them into tiny tanks).

This said, given that we only saw the Chinese name and took the word of various friends and locals about its entertainment value, we absolutely take responsibility for the decision to visit.  However, we maintain that the Chinese name does not really portray the kind of place the aquarium truly is; and had we known, we most certainly would have spent our money elsewhere.

A brief review of the 國立海洋生物博物館 (National Marine Biology Museum and Aquarium) follows:
The museum portion of the facility is mediocre at best, and is not very informational.  Needless to say, we were pretty disappointed- there were only a couple of exhibits in the museum that you can walk through and only one I thought was worth seeing.  The aquarium portion was traumatizing:  Children running around screaming and banging on glass while parents totally ignored them, and Beluga whales in tiny pens circling (this video is too large to post here, please follow the link to see the beluga) in what can only be described as high-stress behavior.

The other tanks weren't much better- very small and jammed packed with fish, eels, and other marine life.  Although the design and layout itself is interesting- you can walk through the tanks via glass-encased walkways, the size of the tanks and the stress behaviors visible from all angles make the aquarium a really uncomfortable experience.

I would strongly recommend skipping this aquarium- if you want to see marine life, rent snorkeling gear and go out for a few hours with a group or on your own; you'll see everything in the aquarium and more, but without participating in the socially justified harming/kidnaping of wildlife.  If possible- I would highly recommend scuba diving to see even more kinds of marine life.  Either way, the aquarium did nothing for me and provides nothing that isn't easier and more amazing when seen (very easily, I might add) in person.  The fact that a ticket is nearly 500nt means that it's about the same price to rent gear and go snorkeling, so there's not much reason to visit the aquarium.

*I have decided to put up some of the videos I took while there, in the hopes that people will decide viewing these videos are enough and won't be inclined to go.