07 July 2017

Macduff Marine Aquarium creatures to holiday at Aden Country Park

Macduff Marine Aquarium is sending some of its sea creatures on a summer holiday down on the farm this month, while the aquarium’s refurbishment is continuing.

You can meet them at the Aberdeenshire Farming Museum at Aden Country Park and enjoy daily interactive sessions led by the aquarium team.

Are starfish slimy? What do hermit crabs do when they are too big for their shells? How do sea urchins move? Find out all this and more as the rocky shore creatures take up summer residence in new mobile touch pools in the theatre at the Farming Museum.

They will be there between 10am-4pm from Thursday, July 13 until Tuesday, July 18 and it is free for all to visit.

As well as introducing the live sea creatures, the aquarium team will also have shells, casts and other marine artefacts to show and tell visitors about.

Chair of Aberdeenshire Council’s Education & Children’s Services Committee, Cllr Gillian Owen, said: “Everyone deserves a good holiday every so often and so while Macduff Marine Aquarium is being refurbished, we’re taking this opportunity to introduce its inhabitants to some new surroundings and visitors at Aden Country Park.

“This is your chance to get close to sealife and discover how starfish, crabs, urchins, anemones and other marine creatures make their living down on the shore as the aquarium’s rock pool creatures swap surf for turf for a week.”

Chair of the council’s Infrastructure Services Committee, Cllr Peter Argyle, said: “The refurbishment of Macduff Marine Aquarium’s kelp tank is going very well with a new lining now in place and the windows resealed and polished.

“Work has begun on the electrical rewiring in the building and the rock features within the tank are being rebuilt over the next few weeks.

“Once all refurbishment work has been carried out, this fantastic visitor attraction will be ready to stand on the shores of the Moray Firth for another two decades and longer and I’m looking forward to celebrating its 20th anniversary later on this year when its doors reopen.”