Yee Gan O.
Yelp
On a wet day in Plymouth, the girlfriend and I headed for the relative indoor comforts of the national marine aquarium. It was thoroughly miserable and this is where the aquarium loses one star. There was a queue all day and everyone was forced to queue outdoors in the cold and rain
It wasn't helped by the slow selling of tickets. When we finally got to the ticket desk, a contributory cause to this lack of speed became obvious - after we had purchased our tickets (£13 for an adult), we were asked whether we would sign a form to qualify for free attendance for a year. After we had done this, it became clear why they needed our signature - we were asked if we minded if the aquarium reclaimed tax on our tickets. I would have said yes if they had asked that at the beginning but doing it this way round made it feel a little like subterfuge. Especially as it slows the queueing process down for cold, wet customers outside
Anyway, enough moaning. Our visit did improve considerably after the slightly iffy start. We did struggle a little to find the entrance but basically, just keep going up and up and you'll enter the first room, which covers the plants and wildlife from the local seas around Plymouth. This room is dominated by 2 large rockpools. A shame that it's stricly see, no touch though - there's no petting pool, which you sometimes see in other aquariums. The small tanks were well labelled, enabling us to find the little residents in each tank. Throughout the aquarium, you'll find a lot of information. You can really feel the educational emphasis here
In the next section, you'll encounter the first of the aquarium's starring huge tanks. It's mesmerising to just watch the sea creatures swimming and also interacting with each other. The shark and ray tank is cool in that there are overhead ports, through which you can them swim over you. They've also sunk a whole biplane in another tank to create a habitat for warm water fish
That's not say that the small tanks are dull. Au contraire. One of the prettiest creatures were the delicate jellyfish. I also loved the clown fish (Nemo!!) fiercely defending their anemone
We lucked out near the end of our visit when we arrived just as Octavia, the aquarium's octopus, was being fed. The staff were really informative, explaining that octopi are as intelligent as 3 year old humans and love to play. They've been known to sneak off to other tanks to eat fish before returning to their tank and acting all innocent. Hence the elaborate access to Octavia's tank. She was given a live crab (she's the only animal which gets fresh food in the aquarium) inside a jar with a screw top. They set Octavia tasks to keep her stimulated and it wasn't long before she had the top off. It's definitely worth finding out when they have feeding times
A final tank to see the turtle swimming round before the exit through the cafe or gift shop. A good way to pass the time in Plymouth, once you get in!