At a time when the RSPCA had produced a damming report (October 2004) on the state of Public Aquaria in the U.K. Sue and I visited the Blue Reef Aquarium at Tynemouth (which has sister establishments at Portsmouth, Tyne & Wear and Newquay) and were very impressed by what we found.

As you enter the displays you find yourself looking into a large aquarium that is home to several Terrapins, 150 Common Goldfish and 150 Comet Goldfish.
The combination certainly seemed to be working as the fish were showing no signs of aggressive intent caused by their reptile companions. To help upkeep the health of the Terrapins several basking lights and a terrestrial area are provided.

The 'tropical freshwater hall' is very small and thus consists of only two exhibits. The first of these is a large bow-fronted tank that is wonderfully decorated with a large cork bark bank and plenty of lush aquatic plants.
Various small South American characins and catfish, cyprinids from Asia and Green Sailfin Mollies live in harmony within this set-up. At the time of our visit a shoal of beautifully coloured Cherry Barb, Puntius titteya, were busy spawning among the plants and against the cork background.

The second exhibit features six mature Red-breasted Piranhas. Two of these fish had paired and were busy digging, using sweeps of the body and tail, a potential spawning site in the gravel. The remaining four had the good sense to keep well clear of this activity.

Now we move onto a wide, but shallow, open topped exhibit which is home to a River Turtle display, a well planned mountain stream décor that uses branches of bogwood to full effect.

'Coastal waters' follow with 13 exhibits which feature the fish, crustaceans and anemones found around the North-East coastline. Some of these creatures are permanent within and others visitors to our waters. Highlights of this section are the re-designed Ray Pool, the way these majestic creatures camouflage themselves against the sandy substrate is a marvel of nature; incidentally, the Rays' previous home is now given over to Asian Short-clawed Otters.

The Wolf-fish (Anarhichas lupus) exhibit uses special blue lighting to reproduce the blue Antarctic waters in which many of these fish, which feast upon sea urchins in the wild, are found.

The 'education room' allows a youngster the chance not only to see but to handle a number of aquatic creatures that inhabit the local rock pools. Much information can also be gained here about marine mammals.

'Tropical Seas' contains 3 very special exhibits. The first of these is a columned tank that is home to a large shoal of silver-coloured Anchovies and is used to illustrate how these fish move in union. The second uses a red lighting system to highlight reef predators who hunt fellow fish species at night and the large Pyjama fish are well worth paying the entrance fee just to see.

The third display was a real highlight of our visit. It contains living rock in a display which has taken 6 years to mature.

Large shoals of Yellow Tang share this tank with various Damsels and Dotty backs etc. We caught this exhibit at feeding time and the assistant assigned this task told us that the fish here are fed on a 3 day cycle which sees them eat Cockles, Mysis Shrimp and a specially formulated, and vitamin enriched, vegetable diet.

New for 2004 are several vivariums, beautifully decorated with varieties of tropical plants and ferns, which display various species of tropical frogs and toads. Gaining much visitor interest were the spectacular colours of the Poison Arrow Frogs of South America.

As we move towards the 'Sea of Cortez' several smaller displays feature various tropical marine species. Now we are inside an acrylic tunnel and are surrounded by a large variety of fish which include Panther Grouper, various Angels, Finger Fish, Black-Tipped Sharks and Lionfish. We are so close to these fish that this must be the next best thing to diving on a coral reef?

What we have to say is that all the various aquatic creatures we have seen on our journey look very healthy, are well fed and have lovely (and natural) body colours. To help the visitor there are many excellent information and fact file boards around all the exhibits. Small children are able to take little standing stools around with them so that they do not have to struggle to see any of the exhibits.

If you are in the Tynemouth area then the Blue Reef is well worth a visit. Tynemouth village with its Priory, harbour walk, beach and interesting little shops is a beautiful place to relax.

VENUE DETAILS

Name of Public Aquarium - The Blue Reef Aquarium
                                       (formerly Tynemouth Sea-Life Centre).
Location - The Grand Parade, Tynemouth, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.
Adult entrance Fee - £5.50p
Number of exhibits - 30. Aquaria and vivariums of various sizes and dimensions.
Closest accommodation - The Park Hotel

Click on the banner to vist the Blue Reef website

Last updated June 2005