The Sea Life Centre
in Tynemouth (19/01/14)
What a
brilliant place to go on a wet Sunday!
Not only did we have in the background Tynemouth’s tempestuous seascape
to rouse the senses, with but we also
had a warm, indoor escape that our nine year old grandson could explore
comfortably, whilst we followed on very happy to gaze on the watery beasts that
inhabit the shallows of the world.
I absolutely
loved it! Of course, I adore anything to
do with creatures so… maybe you have to be into natural history – but hey- aren't we all?
If you fancy
introducing your youngster to more than the pretty angel fish and flashy neons
that you can find in your local garden centre, then get yourself a family
ticket to the North East’s own water world (easily printed off from their
website – we paid £25 for two adults and a child- or just go to the door. The tickets last all day too).
You’ll walk
through a Perspex tunnel under the elegant fins of skates and ray fish, with
sharks patrolling the surface water above you, peer though bubble glass at
seahorses and come close to a kaleidoscopic array of Nemo’s friends and
relatives, complete with monstrous pink anemones – nothing tiny here!
Otters have
got to be the cutest water mammals and the aquarium has several housed in an
ingenious indoor pond, complete with wooden holt and branch walkways, which
allow the furry beasts to examine their human visitors with an equal amount of
curiosity. All this complete with that indescribable musky stink, which tells
your senses that these are not tame animals.
But save the
best for last…
The
SEALIONS!
Lucy and
Finn (real sealions) and their seal friends live in an outdoor aquarium and,
yes, we did brave the drizzle and it was totally worth it. If you want to see
intelligent, dog-like sea mammals, with obviously friendly personalities,
respond to their equally well trained keepers with tricks and kisses, well…
you’ll get that that all right but you’ll get more: a sense for something
marvellous and magical in the natural world that you simply won’t get going to
Dobbies or even Flamingo Land.
These are
big, powerful creatures with wet fur that gleams like dark satin, big brown spaniel
eyes and clumps of long, silvery and sensitive whiskers. (If you pay an extra fiver, you can get a
kiss too -just imagine those whiskers in your ear!)
And it’s
right here in the North East.
