Digital Magazine Walk through Science Digital Magazine 1st issue WtS | Page 11

Page 11
The visit in Aquarium was for us an occasion to gain a
knowledge about the species from Indian Ocean since
the majority of them were taken directly from their nat-
ural environment as well as the technological
as-
pects of taking the seawater from the ocean to the
tanks using a giant pump and then purified and
distributing it to the all smaller aquariums.
By Aneta Popiołek
Poland
In the afternoon we visited Kelonia Museum – the aquarium and
observatory specialising in Marine turtles in Saint-Leu. We entered
the site walking across the beach in order to discover the different
locations occupied by sea turtles during their biological cycle and
their perfect adaptation to the marine environment. The path grad-
ually leaded us to turtles evolving in a basin of 500,000 liters and
opens onto a unique underwater panorama.
Kélonia as a part of very active scientific observatory dedicated to the protection and
reproduction of the Indian Ocean's turtles showed us how the local scientists deal with
the effort to protect endangered species. We visited its equipment with a laboratory, a
treatment centre and nursery where animals in distress are cared for and an interesting
exhibitions with numerous interactive activities for kids. We could have seen the turtles
peacefully swimming about in the water from the observation tower.
The museum provided us the opportunity to observe sea turtles in their natural and
reconstituted habitats during guided tour.