ocean Tunnel
strange tides
Explore the magic of the underwater world
In March 2024, we completely stripped and refurbished our Ocean Tank and re-themed the surrounding areas, renaming this part of our Zooquarium, ‘Strange Tides’.
Our Ocean Tunnel is an underwater world of magic, where you can dive in deep and experience a new insight into the sea creatures that live in the deep ocean.
We have 2 beautiful Zebra sharks – Xena and Ripley. Juvenile Zebra Sharks have long, dark stripes along their backs, hence how they get their species name. However, as they mature and grow, they lose their stripes and gain spots! You may notice our Zebra Sharks have a bit of both, as they are still fairly young sharks!
Zebra Sharks can be found in shallow coastal reefs. They are usually found over sand in these areas, up to depths of 203ft from water surface level. They are commonly located in Tropical Western Pacific Oceans, Indian Oceans and the Red Sea.
These sharks came from a breeding project at Oceanopolis in France. This collection has been breeding these sharks for over 10 years. They found that strictly controlling the diet of these sharks was the key to their rearing success. Oceanopolis are hoping in the next few years to begin a reintroduction project, where sharks that have been bred in captivity will be released into the wild to help increase population numbers.
Don’t worry if you’re not a shark fan (I mean you’re crazy but we accept it!). We have other species of aquatic animals in our Shark Tunnel. We have 4 Cownose Rays, and an array of fish including Look Downs, Bicolour Goatfish, Yellow Goatfish, Porkfish and more!
A SAMPLE OF SPECIES
Cownose Rays (Rhinoptera bonasus) have creased head lobes, making their head look like a cow’s nose from above, which explains their name! The largest Cownose Ray recorded in history was seven feet (2.1 m) long from the end of one wing to the other.
Find out more and experience what it’s like to live underwater with our sharks and other aquatic animals, by booking your tickets today!