site.btaPolar Fish to Be on Display in Plovdiv Natural History Museum

Two species of living polar fish from Antarctica will become part of an exhibition at the Regional Natural History Museum of Plovdiv thanks to the Bulgarian Antarctic Institute, the Museum Director Ognian Todorov said on Friday. The fish will be delivered with the second polar mission of the Bulgarian naval research vessel Sv. Sv. Kiril i Metodii, which is scheduled for late March or early April.

Todorov reported that this exhibition will be the first in continental Europe to feature living rare species of fish and invertebrates from the Antarctic.

The Museum will use its newly built facilities to receive visitors, but also for ecological and biological studies of the species. and that the project will be transformed from a museum-exhibition into a scientific one. The Museum has created the necessary living conditions, which include temperatures ranging between minus 5C and minus 1C, strong aeration and very clean water. Todorov said that the preparation of the aquarium involved consulting scientists from Chile, who run a similar scientific research aquarium.

The exhibition will aim to deliver species from both the South and the North Pole. The Museum has also made agreements with other aquariums based in Norway.

The Museum's Building a Living Antarctica Exhibit project is funded under the National Culture Fund. The total cost of the aquarium is BGN 200,000.