The Grand Hall accessible to the public
Outside of their public exhibitions, the dolphins use a
reniform-shaped pool 28 meters long, 7 meters wide and 3 meters
deep.
Less than half the size of an Olympic sized swimming pool.
Intended for the public were ten large windows one meter by two
meters, placed directly in the walls of the pool permitting the
observation of the animals under water.
This is the largest space available to Iris and Ivo.
The facilities were created in 1969. After thirty years later
they very little has changed. The few didactic panels still make
no mention of the social lives of cetaceans, or their cognitive
capacity or their complex hunting techniques.
The training pools
In the back exists a second area containing two tanks of
reduced size.
The largest is 5 meters wide with two semi-circular extremities,
its longest point is 11 meters and its depth is 3 meters. The
smallest of the tanks is cylindrical. Its diameter: 5meters, its
depth: 3 meters.
These two tanks are connected by a small channel of which the
dimensions reach 1.5 meters in depth and 1.3 meters width. It
permits access to the large pool and at this point, there is a
revolving door and stainless steel tubes.
The training tanks can also be subdivided into smaller
compartments by means of nets held on PVC squares.
Isolation and quarantine
Taking into account the frequent illnesses, and also the means
for a means of control, an isolation and quarantine tank were
made for which the water source and heating system are
independent of the main facility.
Its dimensions are the following: 5 meters in diameter, 3 meters
deep. Totally isolated from the rest of the facilities, locked by
a double door, endowed with its own rear entry, this tank is the
equivalent of solitary confinement.
Water maintenance
On this level, overhanging the tanks, the office-laboratory
from where one can survey the dolphins and from where the water
is controlled and one can know the precise levels of salt,
chlorine, ammonia and acidity.
The 850 m³ of water are maintained at a constant temperature of
18 to 20°C thanks to a gas heating installation.
The ambient air temperature is maintained between 20 and 22° C
in order to eliminate all condensation on the windows in the
basement.
To avoid the cutaneous edemas that can occur in freshwater, the
animals live in 2% salt water.
As the dolphinarium is located in the middle of the city, some
kilometers from the sea, it is impossible to bring natural water
there. Natural seawater would need to be reconstituted and
filtered every two hours in a closed circuit system.
The rinsing of the filters takes place about every ten days, by
means of salt water and air.
To maintain the desired acidity level (about 7.6 pH), calcium
carbonate is added.
Several antiseptic products are added (aluminum sulfate, sodium
aluminate, sodium carbonate and sodium hypochlorite) to fight
against the bacteria that threaten the water and to eliminate
organic waste.