Acuario Nacional de Cuba

The Acuario Nacional de Cuba in Miramar, Havana, is a scientific centre for marine research, environmental education and public outreach about the sea. It was founded on 23 January 1960 as Sibarimar, when a group of biologists set up an experimental marine biology centre in a house in the Miramar district, starting with thirteen simple tanks of live fish and marine invertebrates.

Public interest led to the purpose-built institution that stands today, with progressively larger tanks and pools for tropical marine flora and fauna. Its first marine mammal arrived in 1973, a fur seal named Silvia who became its most popular resident and set the pattern for how it keeps marine mammals; educational dolphin demonstrations began in 1985.

Its stated purpose is to raise public understanding of the care, conservation and rational use of the sea, the coast and marine resources.