European colonisation of Southeast Asia tightening Turkish control and eventual shut down of the Eastern Mediterranean gateways into Asia first prompted Portuguese, and later Spanish and Dutch sea voyagers to ship around Africa in search of new trading routes and business opportunities. Niccolò de' Conti arrived in Southeast Asia as the earliest documented European in the early 15th century. By 1498 Vasco da Gama, who had sailed round the Cape of Good Hope, established the first direct sea route from Europe to India. Central among the various plannings was to establish direct and permanent trade of the highly priced spices, that were native to Southeast
Polar Bear Shores Polar Bear Shores Polar Bear Shores is a polar bear exhibit at the Sea World theme park on the Gold Coast, Australia. As of 2017, the exhibit features four polar bears (Lia, Hudson, Nelson, and Mishka). In 1997, Sea World began planning and designing "Polar Bear Shores". On 26 December 2000, "Polar Bear Shores" officially opened to the public featuring two polar bears, Ping Ping and Kanook. Following its opening, several polar bears were introduced to the exhibit while others were sent to other zoos for breeding programs. On May 9, 2013, Sea World celebrated their first polar bear birth,