My human won a ‘Love Bristol’ gift card in an Instagram prize draw run by Bristol Aquarium. The cards can be used to visit lots of interesting places around Bristol, so as we have never been to the aquarium we decided to use it there.

I have never been to an aquarium before so I didn’t know quite what to expect.

The aquarium housed many creatures that those living on land don’t usually get to see. I spent a while watching pollack swimming around.

The spiny starfish were amazing.

A huge common lobster was hiding from view.

He came of the pot briefly before retreating inside again. 

I was very glad to have glass separating me from the spiny lobster!

These are archer fish – they squirt jets of water from their mouths to shoot insects off of leaves. The fish had been trained to squirt at a target above the water that dropped food into the tank when the fish hit it. 

One big tank had many Malawi cichlid fish swimming around. My human recalled how when she was young her father rescued a lone cichlid from a pub that he was refurbishing. He brought home the fish and a tank which resulted in them then having to buy filtration equipment for the tank, and another cichlid fish to stop the rescued one from getting lonely!

In another huge tank a common stingray was trying to say hello to me.

He finally made it and we had a good look at each other.

Seahorses are very interesting creatures. They are fish that look a bit horsey, and the male fish carry the eggs in a pouch that are released when they hatch into hundreds of tiny seahorses, many which get eaten by bigger fish, but some survive.

I spent a while looking at the octopus. I was concerned he might be lonely but apparently they are solitary creatures that like to live alone.

I wondered if he could see me looking at him.

There are a couple of very big pools where you can see the fish swimming about from above and walk underneath. I was very cautious looking over the edge as I had to be careful not to fall in!

These very sparkly fish are piranhas which come from The Amazon. They are predators and have very powerful jaws and extremely sharp serrated teeth for eating meat, though they will also eat vegetable matter. I was very happy to have a big sheet of glass between me and them! 

Another huge tank contained lots of other creatures from The Amazon. A sign stated that many of them had been rescued or donated the the aquarium.

I spent a while looking at the turtles. Unfortunately some human legs have managed to get into this photo, as the tank was huge with a few people standing around it – can you spot a human leg?

Very big fish live in The Amazon. I forgot to make a note of what this one is – does anyone know?

The yellow tang, a fish from the Hawaiian Islands, was another fish that seemed to be looking at me. He was in a tank with many other brightly coloured fish.

The plaice were fascinating, with eyes popping out from the top of their heads. My human joked that perhaps we could write a book about a flat fish that didn’t want to be eaten called ‘Percy the Plaice’…

Finally I entered the tunnel that runs under a huge tank of water teeming with fish.

Up above me another Ray came to say hello.

Last but certainly not least was the tank housing the enormous giant grouper fish, the sign said she is called Sheila Giant groupers largest bony fish found in coral reefs. Apparently groupers will eat anything that will fit in their mouths, so the little fish in front of her was taking some chances!

I am glad my humans decided to use the ‘Love Bristol’ card at Bristol Aquarium. I found it really interesting and a great place to spend a couple of hours.  

For more information see: https://www.bristolaquarium.co.uk/

If you live in Bristol a ‘Love Bristol’ card would make a good present see https://townandcitygiftcards.com/product/love-bristol-gift-card/

Horace the Alresford Bear 25/1/24