The Press and Journal (Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire)
Children get hands-on with aquarium’ s new rock pools
Sealife: Centre upgrades its facilities
The staff are getting their teeth into the upcoming Shark Season at a popular north-east attraction.
And now, officials at Macduff Marine Aquarium have given a major makeover to their rock pools area.
A new, more accessible tank with three smaller, raised interactive pools has been installed in the space.
New digital interpretation boards, a shark hatchery and a digital map of the Moray Firth has also been added.
The aquarium, which welcomes around 50,000 visitors a year, is one of the region’s most thriving facilities and the improvement project aims to build on that success.
Aquarium manager Claire Matthews said that a £33,000 grant from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund and North East Scotland Fisheries Local Action Group had arrived at exactly the right time.
She added: “We do what we can when we can and the funding gave us the opportunity to do something that was badly needed.
“This was a chance to make things better and we squeezed it into the gap between our main season and the tattie holidays.”
Displays officer Chris Rowe admitted the previous 12-year-old concrete tanks were “crumbling” and causing the creatures “rashes” and said he was delighted to be involved in the design of a new tank.
He added: “We’ve now got an environment that’s safe for the animals where they don’t have to come out of the water as often so people can still enjoy it.”
After they were introduced to their new home on Monday, a group of Macduff Primary School pupil council representatives were among the first to enjoy the results.
Six-year-old Sophie Ingram marvelled at the creatures in the rock pools.
She said: “I like the starfish. I’ve not seen them much before and I think they’re maybe my favourite animal now.”
Using the touch pool’s underwater camera, primary six pupil Finlay Cleland waved at his friends from the dome window giving the illusion he was also in the tank.
He said: “I think the sharks in here are really cool. The camera is also good.”
Keith Newton, chairman of the Friends of Macduff Marine Aquarium which helps raise funds to support the centre, was pleased with how the opening unfolded. He said: “It’s great to see the children’s reactions and it shows how worthwhile the project is going to be.
“There are always new ideas about how to improve the aquarium.”
Daily Shark Season activities will run from tomorrow to October 27.