Mayor Buma places final building stone on orca, opening Ocean Bricks

When the first season ticket holders of AquaZoo Leeuwarden step inside at five o'clock, the rain is still pouring down. But despite the bad forecasts and gray skies, a good number of visitors showed up for the opening. They have been invited for the exclusive evening opening, at which Mayor Buma will officially open the Ocean Bricks in AquaZoo exhibition at six o'clock. And when the mayor arrives, it actually gets dry and only a few drops fall down.

As part of twenty years of AquaZoo, this year the zoo is organizing, among other things, the temporary Ocean Bricks exhibition from Saturday, April 1 to Sunday, June 18. Here, more than twenty special animals can be admired, constructed from thousands of bricks. Today, the many Friends of AquaZoo pass holders have the privilege of being the first to come and admire the structures.

One of these visitors is a mother with her two sons. Glowing, Jasper and Maarten are sitting in the Bricks submarine, built from a whopping 88,770 bricks. They have been coming to AquaZoo for many years and have just completed the Bricks Elfstedenspeurtocht. "It was a lot of fun," says Jasper. "I like the orca best and the sea turtle and octopus too." Martin agrees. "A lot of work to make this, though!" he says admiringly.

(Maarten and Jasper in the Bricks submarine)

Mayor Buma is also very enthusiastic. In his speech he expresses particular appreciation for the social function that AquaZoo occupies in the municipality of Leeuwarden.
Both educationally, where species conservation and wildlife management are important, and economically in creating jobs and attracting tourism. After placing the last brick on the Bricks orca (a structure, consisting of nearly 250,000 bricks and weighing more than 1,100 pounds), he cut the red ribbon, officially opening the Ocean Bricks exhibit.

(Mayor Buma places the final pebble on the Bricks orca and opens the exhibition)

To give the 20th anniversary an extra golden touch, general manager Jeroen Loomeijer handed over a check to the mayor, giving away 250 tickets to families who cannot afford a day at the zoo. "In this way we want to thank the region around AquaZoo Leeuwarden and offer everyone the chance to come and enjoy a nice day out," Loomeijer said.

(Mayor Buma receives the check from Jeroen Loomeijer)

Exposition
The life-like structures can be admired from Saturday, April 1 through Sunday, June 18. The unusual animals can be seen throughout the park. One of the structures is an orca with young. The structure is made with 223,259 Bricks bricks and weighs over 1,100 pounds. It took 550 hours to make the structure! At the structures there are signs with information about the number of bricks used, the number of construction hours and the weight. There is also an educational edge to this special exhibit, as visitors learn more about species not normally seen in the park.

More information can be found at www.aquazoo.nl/bricks

More read? And always stay up to date with the latest animal news and current events from now on? Then subscriben for the AquaZoo newsletter.