What Magellan and Elcano Didn't See: The Guadalquivir and the Atlantic

Since opening in 2014, Seville Aquarium has had a special connection with the adventures of Ferdinand Magellan and Juan Sebastián Elcano; its whole exhibition experience has been designed around the route of the first circumnavigation of the earth.

It is the same universe they traveled through, but one they won't have seen, other than observed species like sharks, whales, flying fish, and dolphins, and those chronicled by Antonio Pigafetta in his extraordinary journal of the voyage.

This exhibition takes the visitor on a tour of the Guadalquivir River, the Atlantic Ocean, the tropical rainforest, the Pacific Ocean, and the Indo-Pacific. Just like Magellan and Elcano 500 years ago.

We're at the beginning of a journey that will explore the ecosystems of the Guadalquivir River and the riches of the Atlantic Ocean.

There are sturgeon in the native species tank, a fish historically present in Spain since antiquity that is now extinct in the wild. The last specimen was caught in the Guadalquivir River in 1992.

The decline in population is due, amongst other things, to overfishing for caviar and damming that prevents them from reaching their spawning grounds; they usually live in estuary areas and migrate upstream to spawn.

Visitors have reached the estuary of the Guadalquivir, leaving behind Sanlúcar de Barrameda and Doñana. They are heading out into the Atlantic, the second biggest ocean on the planet, covering 20% of its surface.

The recreation of the Atlantic at Seville Aquarium features everything from coastal ecosystems to very deep abyssal areas. There are various habitats to see, like sandy and rocky sea beds and deep-sea coral reefs.

There are octopi in the Atlantic ocean; these are very territorial, intelligent animals with highly developed vision.

The octopus tank at Seville Aquarium contains lots of shelters and hiding places where they can tuck themselves away.

As they are predators, it is important they have a strict diet to ensure the different species grow in pairs.

This tank contains spectacular coral and gorgonian (soft coral) species that are typical of the Eastern Atlantic. Among the species in this tank there are the candelabra gorgonian (Ellisella paraplexauroides), orange tree coral (Dendrophyllia ramea), and sea fan gorgonian (Lophogorgia lusitanica).

These living things are often confused with plants but they are actually animals that live in colonies made up of hundreds of polyps.

The Canary Islands tank at Seville Aquarium contains spectacular species like the undulate ray (Raja undulata), the grouper (Epinephelus marginatus), the nursehound (Scyliorhinus stellaris), and the flying gurnard (Dactylopterus volitans).

The image shows juvenile small-spotted catsharks in the nursery at the Seville Aquarium.

At the beginning of the breeding period, the small-spotted catshark moves to shallow waters to mate. After this, the female lays up to 100 eggs in pairs.

The eggs of the small-spotted catshark are covered in a hard translucent brown case. It is rectangular in shape, with four tendrils to attach itself to the sea floor. Females hook the eggs by swimming in circles around seaweed or rocks.

Eggs take between seven and nine months to hatch, depending on the temperature of the water. Pups usually measure around four inches (10 cm) at birth.

The habitats of many species are in open water, among them the biggest, most amazing and majestic animals of the sea.

The oceanarium at Seville Aquarium has the deepest shark tank on the Iberian Peninsular. It is almost 30 feet (nine meters) deep and holds almost 500,000 gallons (two million liters) of water. In it, sea turtles, various species of shark, and other wonders can be admired.

There are also different types of ray, like the common stingray, pelagic stingray, eagle ray, and spotted eagle ray, as well as the guitarfish, huge seabass, sea bream, and a shoal of seahorses.

Chelo is a loggerhead sea turtle of the Caretta carettaspecies.

She has become a mascot for Seville Aquarium to draw attention to the importance of protecting her species, which is in danger of extinction. Both she and a male sea turtle named Nando were hatched from eggs collected from Boa Vista Island in Cape Verde, West Africa.

Chelo belongs to a project set up to guarantee the survival of the species over time in the ocean environment, where unfortunately many dangers lurk.