an interest in females in 2014. The exhibited until 2021 female was on display (another is maintained away from the public) is long. There were three whale sharks, but they have been moved to a separate tank to make room for breeding. In 2021, a 13-year-old female whale shark that had been in captivity in the Kuroshio Sea tank was transferred to a medical treatment tank in the sea due to poor health, and later died. The cause of death is thought to be feeding difficulties from skeletal abnormalities in the jaw and a twisted pylorus. The Coral Sea In the Coral Sea tank, 450 colonies of reef-building corals of about 80 species are bred and exhibited. The tank has a capacity of , no roof, a structure that allows strong sunlight to enter, and a constant supply of fresh seawater to enable large-scale breeding of coral. The Coral Sea tank is made to emulate the coral reefs in Motobu. In 2021, the Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium was temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it was confirmed that Acropora microphthalma gave spawned in the daytime for the first time. The Shark Research Lab Sharks such as bull sharks, tiger sharks, silvertip sharks, and silky sharks are bred in the shark research lab tank. Some bull sharks kept in aquariums have lived for more than 42 years. In 2016, the aquarium showed an attempt to raise an adult great white shark. The great white shark exhibit was successful, but it died three days later, leading to criticism from animal rights groups. In 2019, aquariums captured a pregnant tiger shark and succeeded in giving birth in a shark research lab tank. Okichan Theater and Dolphin Lagoon Near the aquarium is the Dolphin Show Stadium, called the Okichan Theater, where viewers can touch the animals and watch the show's performance for free. There is also a dolphin contact facility called Dolphin Lagoon, which houses several species of dolphin. The Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin named Okichan has been owned since the opening of the Okinawa Ocean Expo Aquarium and has been bred for 45 years as of 2020. In 2003, the bottlenose dolphin named Fuji's caudal fin was 75% necrotic and had to be resected. The aquarium collaborated with Bridgestone to develop the world's first artificial caudal fin to attach to Fuji. Fuji died of infectious hepatitis in 2014 at an estimated age of