Shark season may surprise visitors

MACDUFF Marine Aquarium is gearing up for its shark season during this year's October holidays.

Sharks are one of the most threatened groups of animals on the planet and are being fished at alarming rates and more than a quarter of shark species are in danger of extinction.

They will be in the spotlight at the visitor attraction with two weeks of talks, workshops and activities aimed to dispel myths and promote conservation of these creatures.

Over the past couple of weeks, school children have been getting to grips with sharks through the popular Shark School programme offered to primary schools.

From Saturday, aquarium visitors will be able to get their teeth into a number of different events and activities showcasing sharks, skates and rays and discover why sharks are endangered and what we can do to help.

There will be shark-themed activities, games, crafts, story time and shows.

In the shark science sessions, visitors will get to look inside a shark during a dissection, handle shark teeth and skin, find out about amazing shark senses and debate whether they really deserve their dangerous reputation.

The aquarium homes five local shark and ray species and has a shark nursery where baby dogfish and rays are hatched and cared for before they are released into the wild. During shark season there will be daily shark crèche talks at the nursery where visitors can learn about the dogfish's growth and see the shark pup embryo growing in the egg case.

Aquarium learning officer Marie Dare said: "Sharks play an important role in the marine environment and shark season is an opportunity for people to get an in-depth understanding of these incredible animals.

"Sharks are extremely vulnerable to over exploitation and should be treated with care and respect rather than blind fear or indifference."