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Family day at Bristol Aquarium

The weather in Bristol was a little on the wet side so we were looking for somewhere indoors to go yesterday. 

A quick flick though Days out with the kids and we decided on the Bristol Aquarium.
We planned the route through the Satnav and off we went.

When we got there we didn't realise just how close it was to everything. *A brilliant thing I'm finding about Bristol is all the best things are within a 10 mile radius of each other*.

So we went in and paid our admission.

*before we went in I checked the Voucher Cloud to see if there were any offers ... we got £2 off each ticket*

The lovely wee man at the desk stamped us which meant we could go out then back in throughout the day.



This would be brilliant if your spending the day in the city centre cause there are different talks and feeding schedules so rather than miss it completely, you could go back! Bonus! 

It was brilliant in there!  We saw loads of different kinds of fish.

These are sticklebacks and Snake Pipefish
*fact - Snake Pipefish are cousins of the seahorse and can grow up to 60cm.



These fish were MASSIVE and in the same tank where some turtles ... was very cool watching them bob up to see us :) I love turtles! Ive always wanted to have one as a pet but i don't know if it would be fair to the wee dude since i don't have a massive pond it could chill in. Agent M did say if we ever did have a turtle it was going to be called Michelangelo ... Wonder if he'd make it tiny nun-chucks :)






In one of the big tanks were the leopard Sharks in amongst other fish. I was surprised they weren't munching on the smaller fish but we did listen to a talk and he said there was some poisonous fish in there so i guess evolution has taken care of that one making it safe to keep them together :)




I love the pattern on the leopard sharks. Its so pretty. But then that's how they got their name lol
*Fact - Leopard Sharks have a protective third eye known as a protective nictating membrane



In a big tank on its own was an Electric Eel. I'm not so keen on these cause they always remind me of snakes which i hate *shivers running down me thinking about it*


*fact - Contrary to its name Electric Eel isn't actually an eel. Its a kif fish which is closely related to the catfish. 


Now these little rays were my faves :) It was so difficult trying to get a photo of the underside but after a little while this wee one kept coming up to the glass. 


Don't they look like they are smiling though. And their wee 'legs' at the side. I thought they were adorable and could have watched them for hours lol.


They look like they are just flying through the water. So elegant. Its weird to think that something so small and sweet looking can grow to be so huge and dangerous. Suppose its a good thing I'm not keen on deep sea diving. I'm happy to look through glass. Up close and personal would be a bit too freaky for mama.


Masters of disguise, some of the rays and smaller fish in this tank were able to blend into the sand so you couldn't see them unless they moved. There is actually 2 rays in this picture and one tiny fish that kept making Agent M jump when it just appeared. Hide and seek experts i reckon :)



The flat fish were good at hide and seek too... some were the same colour as the sand or had buried themselves in in it. Suppose that's easier than risking getting munched. 




How cute are the Big Bellied Seahorses :)




At first i though this was a tank full of pregnant males but it was actually full of females. Agent M was a bit thrown that the boys carried the babies which lead to an awkward conversations with mama *one little guy walking past us was killing himself laughing when i was trying to explain the birds and the bees a la fish*


These are Mbuna Cichlids which are native of Lake Malawi. I loved watching the colourful fish just chilling and swimming ... Its so relaxing.



This angry looking bad boy is a Green Monary Eel. It was HUGE! Again through it was too 'snakey' for my liking but Agent D loves stuff like Eels.



There were actually 2 eels in the tank but when i tried to get the second one, this fish decided to photo bomb it ... It looks almost annoyed. Perhaps its not got enough publicity in his opinion lol.

And guess what ... not only did we find Nemo but we found all his brothers and sisters
*id like to think Disney just gave the illusion the evil pike ate his siblings for dramatic effect,  when in fact they just wanted too much in their riders so their scenes were cut ... that's my theory and I'm sticking to it :) *


*Fact - The common clownfish (nemo) is one of only a handful of tropical marine fish to be successfully bred in captivity. 


And Dory was there too :) *I swear when I saw the Regal tang I started singing "Just keep swimming, swimming, swimming"*



This tank felt a little like the dentists tank in Finding Nemo. What do you think? Am i just too Disney in the brain lol ... That said there was no puffer fish in the tank so maybe its my wishful thinking :)



These little black and white fish are called Banggai Carfinal who shared a tank with the Long Spined Sea Urchin. Some of the fish seemed to be staying in the same position the whole time which was kinda weird. Perhaps they were deep in concentration or possibly playing musical statues lol.


There were some beautiful displays with different species of plants too ... how gorgeous is this mini waterfall. I love water features in gardens but as much as i beg Agent D to let me make one hes always vito'd it. Suppose its alot of work really to keep them clean and functioning. Perhaps if i have a bigger garden one day 



These beautiful angel fish are so fragile looking but so pretty :) I love how floaty their fins look.



Agent M liked the tank with the Poison Dart Frogs. He says the colours make them look "just not safe to eat" lol. I think the colours make them look not quite real to be honest. Like someone has been at them with a paint brush lol. They were so tiny.



This big boy is called Patrick and hes a Giant lobster. The picture doesn't do him justice cause he was REALLY BIG!

*fact - Patrick, who's over 60 years old, was donated to the aquarium in October 2012.


In these 2 tanks Moon Jellyfish. The tanks reminded me of those lava lamps that were big in the 60's :)
*fact - Jellyfish have been around more than 500 million years meaning they are older than both sharks and dinosaurs. *imagine if they could tell you a few tales :)

We had a fantastic day out and got to enjoy a lovely talk about the coral reefs while watching the fish get fed. Aquariums are always a hit with Agent M and i cause we love seeing the different fish and Agent D loved it too. We all had a good time :)