Detailed shot of the head

How did the cod get to the aquarium?

Cod is one of the most well-known Baltic Sea fish, a classic in the OZEANEUM’s Baltic Sea aquarium. However, this fact was no help in procuring live specimens for the chalk cliff tanks. The difficulties involved in this trip to catch cod will certainly remain in the memories of museum employee Rolf Wilsch and his former colleagues for a long time to come.

Rather at night than at dawn, the two met with a fisherman in Sassnitz to embark upon the two-day trip. Shortly after setting off the waves grew stronger and the usually seaworthy museum staff soon found themselves in serious trouble on the high seas. The swells made things so difficult that the team took turns enduring violent bouts of seasickness. Nevertheless, they managed to bring the cod they caught back to the harbor alive and unharmed.

Since their arrival in 2008, the always hungry cod have already tripled in size. Their gluttony even went so far that their roommate, the garfish, had to be fed separately. For a time the cod were fed with bombes: frozen balls of fish food. While they were busy tucking into their food bit by bit, the garfish had enough time to eat the food they were given at the water’s surface. The feeding department has now got the process down pat and peace in the aquarium community has been restored.