‘Water quality’ blamed for death of 1 in 3 creatures at Sea Life Centre

ANIMALS at a Sea Life Centre died at “disturbing rate”, with one in three creatures passing away in a year, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) has said.

Sea Life Centres has in part blamed a “water quality problem” for the unusually high mortality rate at its Great Yarmouth aquarium, after figures obtained by the BBC revealed 812 out of 2,293 animals – including endangered sharks and sting rays – perished in 2016.

The MCS said it would review its sponsorship of Sea Life Centres, which operates 13 UK aquariums and is owned by Merlin Entertainment, following the investigation.

The overall Great Yarmouth mortality rate, which covers natural and unnatural deaths, was higher than at any other Sea Life Centre in the UK. In comparison, the mortality rate was 7 per cent at Blackpool and 15 per cent at Manchester.

The company said the figures could in part be due to natural jellyfish deaths but admitted an unspecified number of species died following a “complex” and hard to diagnose water issue that has since been rectified at its Great Yarmouth aquarium.

The figures also indicate the proportion of shark and ray deaths at the centre was 21 per cent, higher than the average rate of between 10-12 per cent at other Sea Life centres, which also include Scarborough, Hunstanton, London and Weymouth.

Nicola O’brien, campaigns director at The Captive Animals’ Protection Society, said there should be an investigation into the deaths at Great Yarmouth, and said it was regrettable the public tended not to care as much about welfare in aquariums as they did zoos.

“If you have animals in captivity then it’s your responsibility, as they are completely at the mercy of whatever situation you put them in.

“If there’s been an issue there [with water quality] and they’ve died as a result then that’s serious, and it’s something an inspector should look into to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Ms O’brien said.

“Responsibility has to fall somewhere, and there has to be a penalty for that, otherwise it goes without repercussions and animals just continue to suffer.”

While the public tended to be shocked by unnatural deaths in zoos, “people aren’t as concerned unfortunately” about welfare in aquariums, she added.

“With fish in particular, people aren’t as connected to them as they are with fluffy mammals.

“Increasingly over the years, research is showing that fish and sharks and octopuses are capable of feeling, and suffering, so there’s definitely a massive void when it comes to caring about those animals.”

The MSC told The Daily Telegraph it would like to see more robust record keeping at aquariums.

Dr Chris Tuckett said he was reassured “to a degree” that the issue had been rectified, but said the data remained “a cause for concern”.

“There are still questions over the keeping of some species which may be less suitable for keeping in captive conditions.

“We would like to see a more robust set of record-keeping maintained by public aquariums to demonstrate that they give the specimens in their tanks care and attention as a matter of routine,” he told The Telegraph.

In a statement, Sea Life Centres said: “Sea Life places the very highest priority on the welfare of the animals at its sites, which are supported by experienced animal care teams, marine biologists and world-renowned veterinary consultants.”

812 The number of deaths at the Sea Life Centre in Great Yarmouth in 2016, one-third of the aquarium’s 2,293 animals