Cold Seas – the new exhibition at the NMFRI Gdynia Aquarium is now open!

It is with great joy to announce that the extremely difficult and demanding investment to expand the didactic path at the Gdynia Aquarium of the National Marine Fisheries Research Institute in Gdynia has been completed.

Opening of the new exhibition (photo: W. Podlesinska)

“Cold Seas – from the Atlantic to the Baltic”, as the new exposition is called, includes 12 new aquariums with a total volume of 450,000 liters and more than 30 Atlantic animal species (including cartilaginous fish, lobster, crawfish and jellyfish). The cost of the investment amounted to nearly PLN 20 million.

The official opening of the new exhibition, which took place on April 19, was attended by numerous guests, including Pomeranian Voivodeship Marshal Mieczyslaw Struk with Deputy Marshal Wieslaw Byczkowski and Pomeranian Deputy Governor Emil Rojek.

From the right: Mieczysław Struk – Marshall of Pomorskie Voivodeship, Wiesław Byczkowski – Deputy Marshall of Pomorskie Voivodeship, Piotr Margoński – Director of NMFRI, Artur Krzyżak – Manager of NMFRI Gdynia Aquarium, Emil Rojek – Deputy Governor of Pomorskie Voivodeship (photo: A. Ochman)

Construction work on the new Gdynia Aquarium project began in 2021. It was an extraordinary challenge from the very first day the construction work began. The biggest difficulty was the transformation of the building’s underground into usable space. It was necessary to lower the basement’s foundation and floor, as well as to build new foundations for the columns that bear the weight of the Aquarium’s rotunda structure. Because of the creation of a new space below sea level, the contractor had to build a bathtub-like structure around the new floor to prevent water from entering the building. Thus, when visiting the “Cold Seas” room, we literally move underwater!

Gdynia Aquarium, See how the „Cold Seas” exhibit was created, an additional 450 tons of water at the Gdynia Aquarium, and dozens of new animal species. (Source: NMFRI Gdynia Aquarium Facebook)

The new exhibition is populated primarily by bony and cartilaginous fish, but also crustaceans, a species of jellyfish unique to us, bred by our aquarists – called the Atlantic nettle Chrysaora quinquecirrha, or delightful schooling fish. The entire exhibition presents the fauna of the cold part of the Atlantic Ocean, including the North Sea, the Danish Straits and our Baltic Sea. Ultimately, the new space will house as many as 1,300 new organisms.

The implementation of the project was possible thanks to the support of the Office of the Marshal of the Pomorskie Voivodeship under Measure 11.4 of the ROP for Pomerania 2014-2020.

The project in numbers:

Total value: PLN 19,365,271.32
Eligible expenses: PLN 15,424,777.46
Requested EU co-financing: PLN 11,035,612.10
Level of EU co-financing [%]: 71,54%
Number of tanks – 12
Amount of water – 450,000 liters
Largest tank – 126,700 liters
Smallest tank – 2,300 liters
Completion date – 31.12.2023.
Exposition opening date – 20.04.2024.