History
Taraporewala Aquarium is designated to be one of the best in India. The aquarium took its birth in 1951. The aquarium is named after Mr. Taraporewala, a Parsi philanthropist who was instrumental in setting up the aquarium. The initial grant of Rs 200, 000 from Mr. Taraporewala paved the way for setting the aquarium. It is now supported by the Maharashtra State Government.
Virtual Tour
At the entrance, you’ll find an exhibit of a whale skeleton. The main hall has two sections. The first of 160 cubic feet and the second a miniature section with 2 cubic feet. Photography is prohibited.
There were around 80 species of fish, fresh water fishes like Piranhas and Fresh water sharks, turtles and catfish. Interesting salt water varieties like Sea Snake, Puffer Fish, Sting Rays and Octopus. I was most fascinated by the Sea Anemone. It has its tank placed at the entrance, so you won’t miss it. The Sea Anemone looks like a flower but they are actually predatory animals. The Sea Anemone attaches itself to rocks or coral. They have their mouth at the center. In order for the Sea Anemone to eat, they must wait for their food to swim by. Then they sting it with their tentacles that paralyze and entangle small marine animals and then push it into their mouth.
Making a Change
The fish were very interesting but the tanks were not so clean and the lights were dingy, so altogether it didn’t make a well managed aquarium. Also, the sign boards/labels that were placed next to the tanks gave a gist of the fish species in English, Hindi and occasionally in Marathi, but there were a lot of proofreading errors in these descriptions, misleading the visitors. Another upsetting sight was of the Sea Turtles’ Tank. The Tanks were alright in height, but were not spacious enough breadth wise, so the poor Sea Turtles kept knocking their noses to the tank glass. Most of the times, it gave up swimming and just lay still. It is indeed upsetting to note that a benevolent vision made by the founder Mr. Taraporewala is not realized in its entirety.
Future initiatives
There is a proposal to convert this aquarium into an underwater oceanarium and the Government of Maharashtra is working on it. If this materializes, then people can undertake an undersea walk, surrounded by marine life. Just a thought of it makes one excited. In the meanwhile, however, the existing fish needs to be taken care of and there’s something that even us, the common visitor can contribute. For a start, I’ve begun creating a database of all the fishes available in the aquarium. I’m compiling a file that would list their food habits, characteristics, places where they are found, etc. I’d welcome help completing this database, so that it can be done quick and effectively. And it can be done best not individually, but by the combined effort of a good team. Together, we can get something going for our precious underwater friends!
For contributions, mail at taraporewala.aquarium@gmail.com
Top Fish Research websites
https://fishbase.org
https://answers.com/topic/list-of-fishes-of-india
https://wikipedia.org
https://oceanfutures.org/
Timings: The aquarium is open to visitors between 11am.to 8p.m. on weekdays and between 10 a.m. to 8p.m. on Sundays. It is closed on Mondays.
Getting there – It is situated on the way to Marine Drive, 5 mins walk from Charni Road station.