From poison to pincers, barbed stingers to gnashing jaws, there are so many ways that aquatic animals hunt and protect themselves in the natural world.
This October half term, Bristol Aquarium is exploring all the different ways that their animals can be deadly!
Did you know the world’s deadliest invertebrate is a snail?
From the 24 October to the 3 November visitors will be able to dive in to fascinating facts such as these at Deadly Discoveries, an extra talk hosted daily throughout the holidays alongside the rest of the aquarium’s regular daily talks and feeds.
At this talk guests will be able to watch a squid dissection as aquarium staff demonstrate the incredible biology of this creature from the depths of the ocean. This one is not for the squeamish but budding biologists will be sure to find this study into animal anatomy fascinating.
Here visitors can also get up close with some deadly animal artefacts such as an octopus beak, stingray barbs and sharks’ teeth as well as the shell of the deadly mollusc, the cone snail.
Guests can follow the trail to spot all the aquarium’s deadliest creatures as they explore the thousands of animals in the displays, and learn more about how these wonderful creatures use these incredible features to survive.
On the 29 and 30 October visitors will have the chance to explore the aquarium after dark with some extra special spooky late-night events!
Families will be able to join family-friendly spooky tours on the 29th October.
Tours will last an hour and visitors will be able to pre-book their slot with the first tour starting at 5:30pm, and the last tour starting at 8pm. Guests will get the chance to turn into ghost hunters for the night as they team up with the aquarium’s paranormal investigators to unravel the story of Captain Blackbeard, and why his spirit has reappeared at Bristol Aquarium…
Then on October 30th between 6pm and 9pm the grown-ups get the chance to explore with a drink in hand, at an adult-only free roaming evening..
The tanks enter moonlight mode, and the Urban Jungle comes alive with mysterious mood lighting illuminating the jungle in mysterious new ways. But beware, ‘tis the season when spirits come out to play, who knows which uninvited guests may be lurking in the shadows… spooks are abound in the aquarium after dark!
A range of drinks will be available at the bar and pre-booking is required for both events.
“We love the fun of getting into the Halloween spirit and we hope our extra spooky late night events will bring a thrill and a chill to anyone brave enough to explore us after hours,” said Sunny, the General Manager at Bristol Aquarium. “For many people, the first foray into discovering the wonders of the natural world will come from the excitement of how dangerous it can be! As well as our spooky fun we’re very excited to dig into all the different dangerous species we have here, to help our visitors learn more about these wonderful animals.”
Bristol Aquarium is situated on the historic harbourside and takes visitors on an underwater adventure through the world’s oceans. For more information and to purchase tickets visit www.bristolaquarium.co.uk or call 0117 929 8929.