At the weekend we got the bus to Jamsil in Seoul and went to the Lotte Mall. In between Chanel and the other posh stores there is the Lotte Mall Aquarium. We paid for our tickets and went in. It was very crowded, full of parents and children. We were as fascinated as anyone else by the beautifully colored tropical fish and by the sand tiger sharks gliding by silently. We watched the harbour seals playfully delight us viewers by splashing and turning in the water.
I saw all the amazed children and could understand the educational value of the aquarium, the chance for people to see something they might otherwise never encounter. However, as with zoos, I had feelings of ambivalence about where I was. On the one hand everyone was getting the chance to learn about these animals, but on the other hand they were trapped in a tank and not free. It’s a big aquarium with millions of litres of water but still it seemed as if the seals and the lonely beluga whale didn’t have much space or enrichment. I don’t know how I feel about the experience.
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