Gottesman Family Israel Aquarium

The aquarium stands within the grounds of the Biblical Zoo on Aharon Shulov Way in Jerusalem.[1][2] The city is landlocked, about 60 kilometers from the Mediterranean and farther from the Red Sea.[2] The facility was built as a closed system.[6] Staff prepare seawater with compositions suited to the salinity requirements of different marine environments,[4][6] while water quality is checked daily.[7]

The complex covers approximately 7,000 square meters and contains 33 water tanks.[3] Its largest tank holds 1.6 million liters of water and is roughly five meters high, with a viewing window approximately 15 meters long; the glass wall containing the water weighs 17 tons.[3][8] A transparent tunnel passes beneath the Mediterranean open-sea exhibit, allowing visitors to observe marine life around and above them.[3][8] Sustainability features include water recycling, a planted green roof designed to absorb rainwater and provide insulation, and a wetlands pond at the entrance intended to filter water.[4]

Reports differ on the overall project timeline, with Maariv describing eight years of planning and construction and Ynet describing a decade.[6][8] Contemporary coverage said construction itself lasted about four years.[6][3] The project cost approximately NIS 100 million and was funded through a partnership involving the Ruth L. and David S. Gottesman Family Fund, the Ministry of Tourism, the City of Jerusalem, the Jewish National Fund, and private donors.[4] The Gottesman family contributed roughly half the total cost.[3] The National Library of Israel lists the Jerusalem Aquarium alongside the Jerusalem Bike Path and hundreds of school libraries as beneficiaries of Gottesman family donations.[9]

The aquarium was inaugurated on June 19, 2017, beside the Biblical Zoo, with public visits scheduled to begin on July 4.[6][3] Aquarium and zoo CEO Shai Doron described the logistical challenge of the project: "We had to do it all from scratch. We're bringing the sea to Jerusalem."[2] Marine animals displayed at the opening came from approximately 20 countries, including Kenya, Indonesia, Portugal, and the Netherlands.[6]

The aquarium is organized around four sections recreating habitats associated with the Mediterranean Sea, the Sea of Galilee, the Red Sea, and the Dead Sea.[5][8] Its regional focus emphasizes local marine life; officials said before the opening that the aquarium would not house marine mammals such as whales.[2]

The Mediterranean section centers on a large open-sea tank with a glass tunnel beneath it.[8] Other Mediterranean displays include species from shallow waters such as those at Dor Beach.[2] The Red Sea section is approximately 25 meters long and two meters deep, showcasing nearly every fish species associated with Eilat's coral reef.[8] The Sea of Galilee tank features St. Peter's fish and black basalt stone from the Tiberias region.[2] Animals reported among the collections include seahorses, barracudas, sea turtles, eels, jellyfish, and sharks.[6] Stingrays, clownfish, and sea urchins were also listed among the aquarium's species.[3][10]

A dedicated conservation exhibit, Wet Side Story, highlights local species including the Dead Sea tooth carp, Galilee blind shrimp, Yarkon bleak, and Dor's loach.[4] The aquarium's 20 quarantine tanks can collectively hold between 600 and 1,000 fish. Its veterinarian said in 2018 that transferring fish from quarantine and fully stabilizing the aquarium could take as long as five years.[7]

Conservation is central to the aquarium's mission. Sea turtles rescued on Israel's shores are treated at the Sea Turtle Rescue Center in Michmoret and may be transferred to the aquarium when they cannot safely be returned to the wild.[11][8] Documented injuries include damage from fishing nets, sharp plastic, and other marine debris; some turtles had lost flippers and would not have survived in the open sea.[8] Thursday behind-the-scenes tours have included turtle feeding and explanations of aquatic animal and plant care from staff fishkeepers.[11]

In a separate effort, aquarium staff partnered with the Israel Nature and Parks Authority to rescue approximately 200 Dead Sea toothcarp from a water body feared to be at risk of drying out.[12] The fish are critically endangered and found only in streams and other water bodies in the Dead Sea region. They were brought to the aquarium for conservation and potential breeding, with possible future release if suitable habitat can be secured.[12] Groundwater pumping, declining rainfall, and falling Dead Sea levels threaten the species' natural environment.[12]

The aquarium also collaborated with the Biblical Zoo and the Israel Marine Mammal Research & Assistance Center to excavate, restore, and display the skeleton of a fin whale whose approximately 17.5-meter carcass was found at the Nitzanim Nature Reserve in February 2021.[13] After the carcass was buried in sand for preservation, teams excavated the bones in May 2023. Restoration and reassembly took a year and a half, and the skeleton was suspended in an exhibition hall using a framework engineered from 3D scans of the bones.[13] The whale was estimated to have been about 20 years old and to have weighed 30 tons in life. Its cleaned bones weighed approximately 750 kilograms, while the complete mounted skeleton and support structure weighed about one ton.[13]

The aquarium functions as both a visitor attraction and a learning laboratory, drawing weekly groups from across Israel for guided tours and educational programming.[7][5] Tours move through the four habitat sections and address plastic pollution and other threats to marine life.[5] Beverly Barkat's artwork Earth Poetica, displayed at the aquarium, was constructed from plastic collected around the world and incorporates recycled fishing nets.[5] Barkat designed the work to attract viewers through its scale and appearance before revealing its subject as plastic waste. The aquarium uses it to connect pollution with risks to sea turtles and other marine animals.[5]

The facility received approximately 300,000 visitors in 2021, the same attendance as in a normal year, despite a three-month COVID-related closure.[5] Special programming has included Thursday evening behind-the-scenes tours, overnight stays for children over six, and temporary art and jewelry exhibitions.[11] A "commitment wall" was also planned as part of the visitor experience and was intended to help build a community focused on marine conservation.[6]

Several factual details about the aquarium vary across sources. Pre-opening reporting described a 6,500-square-meter facility with 30 tanks, while coverage at the inauguration reported approximately 7,000 square meters and 33 tanks. The sources do not explain the difference.[4][3] Accounts of the overall project timeline also differ: Maariv reported eight years of planning and construction, including four years of building, while a 2020 Ynet account described a decade of planning and construction.[6][8]

An April 2025 French-language Times of Israel report described a Jerusalem aquarium postponing its opening indefinitely because of animal losses and acclimation difficulties, including the deaths of dozens of fish and two sharks before a planned public debut. It also reported successful breeding of rays and guitarfish.[14] This is difficult to reconcile with earlier reporting, including a 2018 Jerusalem Post profile, showing that the Gottesman Family Israel Aquarium was already operating as a public venue.[7] The relationship between the facility described in the 2025 report and the established Gottesman aquarium remains unclear.