A video posted on TikTok last Thursday by the account @mecreoturista1 has once again brought to the forefront the state of the Acuario Nacional de Cuba: deteriorating walls, tanks with few marine specimens, and a facility that, according to the description of the video itself, appears to be "in very poor condition, dilapidated, with few marine specimens and nearly abandoned... nothing like what it used to be."
The images accumulated over 104,000 views, 7,169 likes, and 1,075 shares in just a few days, and sparked a wave of nostalgia among Cubans who remember the venue as one of the most beloved family destinations in Havana.
"The National Aquarium of Cuba, one of the most well-known and beloved places in Havana, holds countless memories for generations of Cubans. Today, its images tell a different story," wrote the video's author, who concluded with a question full of melancholy: "Who visited it as a child?"
The deterioration shown in the images is not new. Since May 2025, walls with mold, leaks, rusted railings, wet floors, and a significant reduction in the variety of species on display have been documented.
In October 2025, a mother publicly reported sick animals: turtles with broken shells and a shark confined in a narrow tank. The organization Bienestar Animal Cuba (BAC) described the conditions as "deeply sad" and in a "deplorable state."
The center's own management acknowledged in June 2026 that the facility "does not have the ideal conditions it once had," attributing part of the problem to saltwater due to its location by the sea and the aging of the structures.
The dolphinarium remains out of service because its restoration requires an investment that exceeds the available resources.
Founded on January 23, 1960, in the Playa municipality with just 13 aquariums, the National Aquarium grew to become one of the most important recreational and scientific centers in the Caribbean, with expansions inaugurated in 2000 and 2002 that included the Dolphin Plaza and the Tropical Island.
Its decline is part of a broader pattern: the economic crisis that Cuba has been experiencing for decades, worsened by the lack of state investment, has left similar conditions for other facilities like the 26 Zoo in Havana and the Camagüey Zoo.
In September 2025, the aquarium received two donated green turtles as part of efforts to restore species, a gesture that Cubans on social media received with skepticism given the extent of the accumulated deterioration.
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