The grand opening of the new National Aquarium

My friend Jane and I were lucky enough to be given a 'sneak preview' grand personal tour of the stunning new National Aquarium Denmark. And are some photos of our visit and a few of the 20,000 fish and other marine animals you will be able to see...including what looks like an underwater camel (above)

Anders Kofoed was kind enough to show us
how  visitors will be able to get friendly
with crabs,

lumpfish...
...and plenty more besides.

Ooh it tickles!

Jane gets suckered into shaking hands with a lovely Pacific octopus.
Naturally, this won't be part of the entertainment on offer to the 700,000
visitors expected every year. Despite having eight arms,
the poor octopus would get tuckered out in no time.

But the behind-the-scenes guided tours five times a day
will take you past the tank to say hello.

And here is Jane, waving to a diver who was cleaning the Ocean Tank, which is big enough to hold 40 buses! She's standing in the transparent tunnel that leads right through the tank so that you can see hammerhead sharks, sting rays and shoals of other fish all around you. Don't worry, as you can see by the 'white line' in the photo, the acrylic tunnel is thick enough to hold  the 4 million litres of water in this huge tank so you don't get wet feet.

Compare the two pictures above....Can you spot the difference?

We were the first visitors to walk across the glass
floor after the protective covering was removed. And we didn't break it!

Photo: Per Fløng

A sea lion. Ultimately they will be fed outside in 

nice hot weather (if we ever get any here in Denmark).

Photo: Per Fløng

Our friend the Pacific Octopus.

Photo: 3XN

This is the National Aquarium building designed by 3XN to resemble a whirlpool.

Plenty of room to grow for this lucky shark!

Spot the leafy sea dragons