Berlin, 25 February 2026 – ‘The Ocean’ Berlin will hold 7.5 million liters of saltwater, making it the largest facility of its kind in Europe—all far away from the ocean.
While it claims to celebrate marine life, the project highlights a fundamental contradiction at the heart of the aquarium industry. The immense energy required to sustain artificial seawater in a landlocked city leaves a heavy ecological footprint. More critically, filling tanks of this scale creates a relentless demand for wild-caught fishes, sharks and rays, directly fueling the ornamental trade that depletes the very reefs these exhibits claim to honor.
In this presentation, I explore the impact on marine ornamental fishes and coral reefs, while my colleague, Friederike Kremer-Obrock from www.elasmocean.org, discusses the fate of sharks and rays.
Video in German: