In addition to housing and exhibiting plants, fish and animals from the North Sea, this made a difference Nordsee Aquarium Borkum also recently gained a reputation as a breeding station for various species.
Four genera have already been successfully bred, and a fifth is expected to follow soon. Cat sharks, sea dahlias, whelks and jellyfish seem to feel particularly comfortable in the aquarium. The breeding of all four sea creatures is excellent and adds one or four attractions to the Nordseeheilbad Borkum GmbH facility.
The breeding of whelks is going so well that some specimens have already been donated to the aquarium on Spiekeroog and to the OZEANEUM in Stralsund. 250 of them hatched from a clutch of eggs found at the Borkum harbor. This species is actually considered almost extinct around the island.

The operators, the married couple Maria and Ihno Oetjen, are responsible for the discovery and rearing. Both are passionate about what they do and have almost lexical knowledge of the ocean habitat. They also take on the responsibility of releasing catsharks into the wild when they are fully grown. Sometimes you stand in the water for minutes and observe whether the animal can get used to the larger environment. “We are very happy to have such committed employees in the company with the Oetjen family. Without your work and passion, breeding in the aquarium would not be such a success,” says spa and tourism director Christian Klamt.

Next, the operators will try to breed two additional species. “After we were so successful with our other animals and also the sea dahlia, we will soon try the nail ray and the eared jellyfish,” says Maria Oetjen. The nail rays are still missing a suitable male, but the first successes have already been reported with the eared jellyfish. Some specimens have already grown up to four centimeters. “Earring jellyfish from the North Sea bring small parasites with them that eventually eat the jellyfish from the inside. Home-grown ones don’t have that,” adds Ihno Oetjen.

With the modernization of the aquarium completed in 2015, not only the external appearance of the building changed. The popular Borkum attraction also received a new coat of paint inside and behind the scenes. One of these measures is water supply. Ultra-modern pumping and filter systems supply the individual pools with water from the North Sea and offer the numerous plants and animals an excellent habitat. But it's not just the water that comes from the “front yard,” the animals living in the aquarium also all come from the North Sea. This means that flora and fauna find excellent conditions to grow and thrive. 2016 visitors were welcomed in July 50.000.