[13] The first individual was captured by fishermen, entangled in a net, and threaded through a rope into a spiracle, which severely damaged it.

[19] At a symposium held in Baltimore in 1985, the Okinawa Ocean Expo Aquarium was rated to have the most advanced breeding technology in the world for long-term rearing.

[11] In 1988, the aquarium won the first Koga Award from JAZA in Japan for breeding two generations of whitetip reef sharks.

[20] From the collapse of the bubble economy, as the park lost incoming tourists, it was believed that a new aquarium would help revive the area and celebrate Okinawa's marine tradition.

In addition, since the facility was built for a short-term expo, it deteriorated significantly, and a plan to build a new aquarium was proposed.

[3] The aquarium's facilities also included a dolphin studio and a sea nursery, but due to deterioration of the concrete and other factors, they have been out of use since the end of January 2007 and have all been removed.

[9] Since 2007, Okinawa Churaumi Aquarium has been conducting an annual learning program for elementary schools in Motobu-cho and Nago city, "Environmental Learning from Sea Turtles," which is an educational activity about ecology and the natural environment through the breeding of sea turtles.

The aquarium is made up of four floors, with tanks containing deep sea creatures, sharks, coral, and tropical fish.

Water for the saltwater exhibits is pumped into the aquarium from a source 350 m (1,150 ft) offshore, 24 hours a day.

[46] In August 2024, a female all black body manta ray kept in the Kuroshio tank gave birth.

The pups were born black all over like their mother, 1.6 metres (5 ft) wide, and weighed 42 kilograms (93 lb).

[52] The tank has a capacity of 300,000 litres (79,000 US gal), no roof, a structure that allows strong sunlight to enter, and a constant supply of fresh seawater to enable large-scale breeding of coral.

[53] 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 great white shark exhibit was successful, but it died three days later, leading to criticism from animal rights groups.

[62] In the same year, also discovered areas with high densities of Lyrocteis imperatoris and Saracrinus nobilis, which are considered difficult to capture and keep in captivity.

[62] The aquarium has succeeded for the first time in captive breeding of salamander sharks, which live at depths of around 600 m (2,000 ft) in the seas around Japan.

[66][67] The Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphin named Okichan has been owned since the opening of the Okinawa Ocean Expo Aquarium and has been bred for 48 years as of 2024.

The aquarium collaborated with Bridgestone to develop the world's first artificial caudal fin to attach to Fuji.

[79][80] The Churaumi Aquarium conducts research on the diversity of marine life found around Okinawa, and is engaged in activities that contribute to the conservation and sustainable use of the natural environment.

At the aquarium, the Okinawa Churashima Foundation supervises conservation activities and conducts animal research.

[82] The aquarium collects blood from wild whale sharks, measures the total length and circumference of the body, collects tissues for DNA analysis and chemical analysis, and observes behavior in the natural sea using electronic labels to obtain important information on the breeding habits and ecology of whale sharks.

In October 2020, the aquarium began incubating two live embryos of the deep-sea slendertail lanternshark (Etmopterus molleri) in the artificial uterus.

[85] From 2021 to 2022, the aquarium further introduced 30 slendertail lanternshark embryos into the artificial uterus, of which 6 were ultimately successfully born.

[92] In February 2019, the aquarium described Eumunida balteipes as a new deep-sea species of the squat lobster, in collaboration with the Estuary Research Center of Shimane University.

[95] In December 2019, the aquarium described Synactinernus churaumi as a new species of the sea anemone, in collaboration with the University of Tokyo, the National Museum of Nature and Science in Tokyo, the International Center for Island Studies at Kagoshima University, and the Natural History Museum and Institute in Chiba.

The species' appearance is similar to the flower hat jelly, but differs in the number of outer umbrella tentacles, and is paler in colour.

[100] In January 2020, the aquarium described Plectranthias ryukyuensis as a new species of deep-sea anthias, in collaboration with Kagoshima University.

[102] In January 2024, the aquarium described Churaumiastra hoshi as a new genus and species of starfish, in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution, the Japan Fisheries Research and Education Agency, and the National Museum of Nature and Science.