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NOV 17, 2001 |
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Fancy a little night 'fishing'? The world's second night aquarium comes to Sentosa, showcasing sea creatures in luminous splendour By Krist Boo THE world's first night aquarium outside Japan has opened at Sentosa's Underwater World.
Called the Night Ocean, the new attraction on the resort island is actually the Underwater World transformed into a night oceanarium complete with twinkling starlights on the ceiling, ultraviolet rays and beams that emit a fluorescent effect in the tanks. The attraction, which Underwater World said took several years and 'hundreds of thousands of dollars' to develop, is open from 7 pm to 9 pm daily. On Thursday, visitors who were given mini-torches were able to view the aquarium's sea creatures in near-darkness with the background sounds of recorded whale calls. As inquisitive visitors shone their flashlights at curious-looking fish and eels, sharks swam restlessly about. The corals glowed in colours different from what they appeared in the day. Translucent jellyfish which look clear in the day were irradiated by red rays from the sides of the tanks. Underwater World's curatorial director, Mr Bruce Mackay, said the lighting simulated the marine world as a diver would see it. The star attraction was the ostracod, a flea-like creature flown in from Japan. These swimmers release luminous blue trails of chemicals when a mild current simulating the approach of a predator or a threat is created in their tank. They are the organisms that cause flashes of lights seen on ocean surfaces and on the beach. Visitors such as public relations executive Patricia Chan, 33, were pleased with what they saw. She said: 'I've been to the Underwater World many times. But seeing it in this format is literally seeing it in a different light. I took more time to examine the exhibits, and noticed things I never saw in the day.'
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