Zone 1: Malta’s western shoreline & Submarine

Tanks 2-13

This zone consists primarily of Mediterranean species such as the gilt-head sea bream (Sparus aurata, Awrat), European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax, Spnot), amongst others such as mullet, grouper, amberjacks and scorpionfish.

Don’t forget to look out for the skates hiding beneath the sand! Often known as Undulate Rays these type of skates are common in our seas and are a type of cartilaginous fish closely related to the shark family.

In this tank you’ll observe a submarine. This submarine is a replica of the HMS Stubborn submarine used during World War II which is now a very popular dive site, 2 miles of Qawra point. You will find a number of surprises when looking through the windows of the submarine. Even if at first glance they appear to be empty, take a closer look! The submarine houses a number of sea creatures such as the octopus, sea anemone, parrot fish and other species.

Conservation of our seas and awareness is one of our objectives and thanks to Sharklab you can observe Shark egg cases in this zone. We have teamed up with Sharklab, an NGO in Malta which does research on sharks around the Island of Malta. Thanks to this collaboration we have and we’ll continue to develop shark embryos in our Aquarium. These egg cases have been revived from the fish market where the fishermen take the sharks after being caught as “by catch”. By catch results when sharks are grabbed by fishermen nets “by mistake” but this could lead to a decline in species if not properly regulated.

So far, more than 300 sharks were given back to Maltese waters due to this collaboration between our Aquarium and Sharklab.