World's Largest Acrylic Panel

What's This?
The reason I went to Okinawa in February is right here in the tank you see above. Churaumi Aquarium in Okinawa houses the largest acrylic panel window for an aquarium. It will be surpassed shortly by an aquarium in Dubai, but for now it is the largest panel in the world.

It is 7.5m high and 22.5 m long and 60cm thick. The actual panel is made up of 7 subpanels that are glued together, and each subpanel is made up of layers of acrylic panels that are glued together with an invisible glue. The whole thing has to withstand the pressure of a water tank containing 7,500tons of water, which is approximately the mass of a submarine. The trick is all in the glue created by Nippura, which makes these dirty big acrylic panels aaround the world.

The whale sharks contained within are 9m long. When they swim by, they have the languid motion of giant spaceships in George Lucas movies. The Aquarium itself is devised so that as you walk through its corridors, you go deeper and deeper into the sea. In turn the creatures contained represent the creatures that live around Okinawa. The four major environments of the shallow 'Inoo' reefs; the waters just outside the coral reefs; the Black Sea Ocean Current; and the Deep Sea Trench environments are all on display. You see some remarkable creatures, large and small. There's even a pair of gigantic gropers from Australian waters, given to the aquarium as a gift. The there's a shark room where a 27 year old bullshark swims around with other dangerous fish in a special shark tank.

The really special aspect of this aquarium is how it draws water dirctly from the ocean. There is an underwater pipe that goes out 300m and 20m deep and water is drawn into a complex labyrynth of pipes and filters, turning over the entire volume of the tank, 24 times a day. The techhnology reuired to acomplish is no mean feat. So naturally it makes for good television fodder for the Discovery Channel Asia, and that's why I went. Keep and eye for the program when it hits the wire. You'll even see me in it.