Deep Sea World, Scotland’s national aquarium, is inviting visitors to go behind the scenes with free ‘Access All Areas’ tours this weekend (November 19th-20th).
The North Queensferry attraction is throwing open the doors to it off-show quarantine area to give the public the chance to view their collection of rare baby thornback and undulate rays.
In September more than 20 babies were hatched out from egg-cases which had been collected from the aquarium’s giant ocean display.
Deep Sea World’s Nancy Sidhu said: “Ever since the baby rays were born almost two months ago we have had requests from people to see them. We also posted a video of them online which proved really popular.
“Although they are not yet quite ready to go on public display, we’ve decided to give people the chance to view them in their special nursery tank which is located in our quarantine area,” she added.
Tours will be taking place every hour throughout the weekend with 12 spaces limited to 12 people at a time. The tours behind the scenes tours are free to anyone who has purchased an admission ticket to the aquarium but places are limited.
As well as getting to meet the baby rays, the tours also provide an opportunity to see first-hand how a state-of-the-art aquarium operates; from feed preparation for a huge range of aquatic creatures to filtering millions of litres of seawater.
The highlight of the tours is the opportunity to take a walk along a platform above the aquarium’s massive Underwater Safari display – home to one of Europe’s largest collection of sharks and rays.
With more than 40 naturally-themed displays home to over 2,000 creatures – ranging from seals and seahorses to stingrays and sharks – Deep Sea World provides an incredible voyage of discovery through the planet’s rivers, lakes and oceans.
At the aquarium’s heart is the incredible 4.5 million litre Underwater Safari home to one of Europe’s largest collections of sharks – including three-metre-long sand tiger sharks – as well as hundreds of other fascinating marine life like rays, crabs and lobsters.
- Deep Sea World is open daily from 10am, except Christmas Day. Deep Sea World Aquarium, Battery Quarry, North Queensferry, Fife, KY11 1JR. Tel: 01383 411 880. For information or to buy advance tickets visit www.deepseaworld.com.
