Our history

The Haga Ocean Butterfly House is a living museum.

The founder getting eaten by a plastic shark


The Butterfly House was founded in 1989 and has been run by Mikael Odell and his family since 2006. In 2013, Haga Ocean was built with the large shark tank. The Butterfly House Haga Ocean is a living museum. That is what is so exciting, stepping into the warm rainforest full of fish, frogs, turtles and much more.

The Haga Ocean Butterfly House is a unique place for learning about animals and nature from warm latitudes. The purpose of our large shark tank is to show the public what the ocean can look like at a depth of 7-8 meters. Not everyone can go to the tropics and dive in real life. We have therefore created the big tank with reefs and a myriad of marine life and reef sharks for everyone to see. Our hope is to spark an interest in our visitors. A visit with us might lead to an education in natural science or marine biology. If nothing else, get a sense of life under the surface both here at the Butterfly House and out in the real world.

A small yellow reef fish
An aquatic animal

Our Tropical Butterfly Room is a unique place to learn all about butterflies and their amazing life cycle. The metamorphosis itself, the change in the butterfly's body shape from egg, caterpillar, pupa to adult, is truly one of the wonders of nature. Every year we have students who come to do their APL or internship. We are happy to welcome and teach young people about animals and nature. Each student receives personal guidance and training from our zoologist Owe Sandström. We have also created a fun and educational compendium that all students use during their internship with us. Internships with us are very popular and we accept a limited number of students each year to ensure that we have time to teach and instruct in the best possible way.