The Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, South Africa, has announced the completion of several years of renovation and construction, with the reopening of its 800,000 litre Kelp Forest exhibit.
One of three large-scale installations at the Cape Town aquarium, Kelp Forest has undergone considerable refurbishment, with new rockwork replacing the previous fibreglass structures, and the design shaped to mimic the granite rock formations seen in the kelp forests of the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Town.
The exhibit is one of only a handful of living kelp forests on display in the world, and houses iconic South African species such as white steenbras, roman, red stumpnose and gully sharks. In addition, three of the four species of kelp found around the South African coast can be seen in the new Kelp Forest, these being sea bamboo, split-fan kelp and bladder kelp.
The other major exhibits at Two Oceans are the two million litre Predator Exhibit and the 1.6 million litre I&J Ocean Exhibit (named after fishing company I&J).
Michael Farquhar, CEO of the Two Oceans Aquarium, said: "It feels like we are at the end of an era, from noticing over 10 years ago that our two large exhibits would need to be repaired, to building the new I&J Ocean Exhibit, starting the repairs on the Predator and Kelp Forest Exhibits, to finally reopening one of the jewels of the Two Oceans Aquarium."
The aquarium is also selling tickets for a special "Kelp Night" on 31 January 2019 in celebration of the kelp forests found off the South African coast, with a number of expert speakers participating.
