Brighton Aquarium was established by a private company in 1869 and became a phenomenal success. Scientists praised its internal design and management, royalty patronised it and the public flocked through the turnstiles in unprecedented numbers. In the early days King Edward VII, Queen Alexandra and many European monarchs, foreign princes and
Oriental potentates "toured the tanks". The formidable list of famous visitors from all walks of life and every part of the world included notabilities in the realms of science, art and literature who have paid tribute to the many interesting exhibits and the remarkable features of the building.

 

The original architecture, chiefly in the Italian style, was designed by Mr. E. Birch of London, and neither trouble nor expense were spared in the construction of the building. Over three years were spent in build ing the Aquarium which, with its unique arched corridors, rock-framed tanks and huge subterranean storage tanks for sea-water, would be almost
impossible to reproduce today.

 

The Aquarium was acquired by the Brighton Corporation in 1900, when various alterations were made. The building was again modernised in 1927 and in 1956 the premises reverted to private enterprise and a lease was granted to Aquarium Entertainments, the present Lessees. In 1968 two dolphins were introduced and rapidly became firm favourites with the visitors, and it became very obvious that better facilities were required to enable the large audiences to see the animals at
play, and a major scheme to cost £200,000 was approved, and a new building with a pool 80 feet by 30 feet and 10 feet in depth was constructed.

 

Special filtration equipment was installed to ensure that the 200,000 gallons of sea water is maintained in the best possible condition at an average temperature of 72° F. By using sea water it can be certain that there are natural minerals, plankton, etc. in as near to natural proportions as possible. In the walls large windows were installed to enable
visitors to see the dolphins swimming under water. There is comfortable seating in the auditorium from where it is possible to enjoy the antics of the dolphins, who almost hourly can be seen jumping, retrieving and even "singing".

 

'Freddy' the sea lion was a firm favourite with visitor's, as was 'Tommy' the Loggerhead Turtle

 

As an additional refinement a wonderful water fountain complex completes each session, enhanced by spectacular lighting. At the same time the Aquarium was also being remodelled. All the tanks were redesigned and attractive rockery and lighting installed. New methods of water filtration were introduced to enable the enormous collection of fishes of all kinds, marine, tropical and freshwater,to be viewed under the most advantageous conditions. Some extremely colourful and exotic specimens are to be seen and the collection is always being added to. In addition to its wide range of fishes the Aquarium houses turtles, seals, sea lions, lobsters and giant eels, and the keen student will find it necessary to pay several visits to conscientiously study the wide variety of marine life to be seen.

 

More on the Dolphins.

 

Although they are continuously studied by biologists and other experts there is one basic question that they may never agree on — the question as to whether these animals should be called dolphins or porpoises, but meanwhile use whichever word you prefer.

Some authorities say the dolphin has a beak, the porpoise a blunter nose. Both names have been used since classical times, but in the United States most people now call them all porpoises. The name porpoise has one big advantage. It avoids confusion with a bright coloured fish that is also called a dolphin. But whatever you call it, the animal we are discussing is not a fish, but an air-breathing, warm-blooded mammal with a body temperature about the same as our own.

They are all members of a much larger group of mammals, the scientific order Cetecea, or whales. Technically a porpoise is a small whale, a toothed whale as opposed to a baleen whale, which grows much larger and has no teeth. A porpoise, like its close cousins the killer whale and the pilot whale, has a mouthful of teeth, long and sharp. There are more than 50 known species. They inhabit all the world's oceans and some of the rivers.

 

There are fresh-water porpoises, small and primitive, in the Amazon, the Ganges, and other warm rivers but the kinds
well known to man are relatively few, and of these the most familiar is the Atlantic Bottlenose. This is the friendly, intelligent animal with the built-in smile that you see in the Brighton Dolphinarium. The dolphin swims incredibly fast, kills sharks, communicates with his own kind, herds fish and is more generally found off the Atlantic coast from Florida to Maine. Being a mammal, it gives birth to fully developed young which are suckled on milk. The baby has no teeth at birth, but as an adult will have some 80-90 perfect teeth.

 

The dolphin is gunmetal in colour with a pinky-white underbelly. The "smile" is due to the curvature of the mouth. Fully grown he will be 8-12 feet in length and weigh between 200-600 pounds. He enjoys a diet of herring and mackerel, which he gets at every demonstration. He adores jumping out of the water and playing with balls and other floating objects, but can retrieve a small coin or other object from the bottom of the pool. He is responsive to human speech and is quick to learn any special behaviour that is introduced.

He loves human company and has a great sense of fun. With patience he can be encouraged to perform remarkable tricks of skill and intelligence, due to the dolphin's predominant sense of curiosity and the fact that he is undoubtedly a "show-off". In training, dolphins are never threatened and are taught by the reward system. If really naughty to be ignored is the worst form of punishment. The trainer only has to deliberately turn his back on them for a few moments and they immediately become co-operative again.

 

I hope you enjoyed reading these extracts from Aquarium Publications and should you be planning a visit to Brighton, or indeed just find yourself there for whatever reason, then pay a visit to this playground of the sea.

 

You will find the Aquarium situated on the coast road, A259 - at the end of the A23 road from London. The Steine Gardens and the Palace Pier are here too, as is the Volk's Railway, another famous attraction during the summer months.

 

 

 

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