Sharks move in at Loch Lomond
Published 25 Aug 2011 09:30
Loch Lomond Sea Life aquarium now plays host to 25 shark eggs and 10 baby sharks after they were transferred to the centre's new state of the art facility.
The sharks will be looked after by supervisor Leigh Hotson and her team of experts.
Once the tropical and native shark eggs have hatched, each new baby shark will then be transferred to one of the Shark Nursery's rearing tanks, before being transferred for permanent display in the aquarium's ocean tank.
A spokesperson for the aquarium said: "We have a tank with the baby sharks and a tank with the mermaid purses which are the eggs.
"The mermaid purses are in a separate tank and when you see them in the light you can actually see the baby shark moving about.
"The baby sharks are about ten inches and the eggs are about five inches.
"They hatch out the mermaid purses and once they have hatched we remove them and put them in the tank with the other sharks until they get too big and we have to transfer them again.
"In the ocean tunnel we have the larger sharks.
"Once the babies have grown they'll be put in with the bigger ones.
"They get fed little pieces of fish - not what the larger fish in the ocean tank get fed.
"The adults are quite interested in the mermaid purses - you don't see that very often and we've had a good reaction from the public so far.
"It's very rare for the public to get to see baby sharks so close and see the different stages of their lives."
Visitors can also learn about how sharks pups are born through special tours and presentations.
Leigh added: "The new shark nursery will be a great way to educate and give people an enormous insight into the life's of sharks.
"Sharks are not all man-eating predators but are wonderful and fascinating creatures.
"I cannot wait to watch these amazing creatures grow.
"The shark nursery continues the campaigning work of Sea Life to encourage everyone to play their part in stopping the forced extinction of the planets vulnerable shark species."
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