The Maritime Museum was opened in the second half of the XX century. Its main purpose is to present the history and diversity of the Cantabrian Sea and its impact on the local population. The phenomenal collection consists of nearly 350 species of fish and the remains of unique sea creatures. The pride of the museum is the huge skeletons of whales that make a great impression not only on the youngest.
The phenomenal complex is located on the edge of the Santander Bay. The main building and the aquarium were designed by a pair of Spanish architects: Vicente Roig Forner and Ángel Hernández Morales. In 1999, the museum was expanded, so now it has an area of over 8,500 m2.
The collection of the museum began in 1886, when the Marine Station of Botany and Experimental Zoology was established.