Most aquariums bring the ocean indoors. Atlanterhavsparken, on the rocky headland of Tueneset just west of Ålesund, does the opposite: the buildings are blasted and built directly into the Atlantic coastline, and its biggest exhibits blur into the sea itself. Counting its huge outdoor seal bay, the park holds around 19 million liters, enough for 13th place on our list of the largest aquariums in the world.
It is one of Scandinavia’s largest saltwater aquariums and one of the top attractions on Norway’s fjord coast, three and a half kilometers from Ålesund’s Art Nouveau town center.
Key Stats
| Total water volume | About 19 million liters (Atlantic Tank + Selbukta seal bay) |
| Signature tank | Great Atlantic Tank – 4 million liters |
| Seal exhibit | Selbukta – 15 million liters, opened 2014 |
| Opened | June 15, 1998 (institution founded 1951) |
| Location | Tueneset, Ålesund, Norway |
| Notable residents | Cod, halibut, conger, salmon, wolffish, octopus, harbor seals, Humboldt penguins |
An Aquarium Built into the Shoreline
Ålesund’s aquarium began life in 1951 as a small company display and spent decades in the basement of the local “Fishermen’s House.” The purpose-built park at Tueneset finally opened on June 15, 1998, timed for the city’s 150th anniversary. The site offers nearly 4,000 square meters of exhibition space plus 6,000 square meters outdoors, wrapped in a recreation area with hiking trails, beaches and diving spots.
The exhibits stick close to home: eleven large “landscape aquariums,” two touch pools and a cluster of smaller tanks recreate Norwegian coastal and North Atlantic habitats, from tidal shallows down to deep-water zones viewed through acrylic panels cast 25 centimeters thick to withstand the pressure.
The Great Atlantic Tank
The four-million-liter Great Atlantic Tank is the park’s heart, a boulder-strewn slice of Norwegian sea filled with cod, halibut, conger eels and salmon. Every day a diver plunges in to hand-feed the fish while visitors watch through the big viewing wall, a signature show that has run since the park opened.
Selbukta: A Seal Bay the Size of an Aquarium
In 2014 the park opened Selbukta (“Seal Bay”), a 15-million-liter outdoor enclosure for harbor seals that ranks among the largest seal exhibits anywhere in the world. It is the reason Atlanterhavsparken’s total volume rivals aquariums many times its indoor size. Outside, the park also keeps a colony of Humboldt penguins, and the surrounding headland doubles as a picnic-friendly nature area with views over the shipping lane into Ålesund.
FAQ
How big is Atlanterhavsparken?
Combining the 4-million-liter Great Atlantic Tank with the 15-million-liter Selbukta seal bay, the park holds about 19 million liters, placing it 13th among the largest aquariums in the world and among the largest in Northern Europe alongside Denmark’s Den Blå Planet.
What animals can you see there?
Cold-water North Atlantic species: cod, halibut, conger, salmon, wolffish, octopus, rays and small sharks indoors, plus harbor seals and Humboldt penguins outside.
How do you get to Atlanterhavsparken from Ålesund?
The park sits at Tueneset, about 3.5 km west of the town center. It is reachable by a short bus ride, a scenic coastal walk, or car in under ten minutes.
Photo: GangerRolf via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)