National Marine Aquarium
Plymouth's National Marine Aquarium pitches sharks against the rays in underwater 'Olympics'
Wondering what to do with the kids this Easter?
Keith Rossiter
Jon BayleyContent Editor
The National Marine Aquarium's Shark and Ray Easter Games - or elasmobranch Olympics – will be running from March 31 to April 15
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Think "family friendly" and sea creatures from the shark and ray families are not the first things that spring to mind.
But Plymouth's National Marine Aquarium, on something of a mission of rehabilitate these magnificent creatures, will this Easter be celebrating its family friendly 'Shark and Ray Easter Games'.
The activities, running from March 31 to April 15, will give visitors the opportunity to learn more about sharks and their winged cousins, rays.
Visitors – and particularly youngsters – will be able to take part in challenges and activities in an Ocean Olympics trail, which will pit them against some exciting elasmobranchs – the scientific name for sharks and rays.
Visitors will learn fun facts about the sea creatures that call the Aquarium home as well as getting to see 'Howie' the Sand Tiger Shark and 'Coolwhip' the giant Honeycomb Whiptail Ray.
A spokesman said: "These special Easter activities will showcase the amazing sharks and rays which live in our oceans, while experts will be on hand with educational activities to help inform visitors of the threats facing these unique creatures, and the small actions they can take at home to help.
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"Visitors to the Aquarium will have the opportunity to see some recent additions including Surge, a Cow Nose Ray who was boring in October, and two new Eagle Ray pups which are currently in the Moon Pool exhibit."
Helen Gowans, Public Engagement Coordinator at the National Marine Aquarium, commented: "Sharks and rays are some of the most fascinating creatures in our oceans, therefore it's important we understand as much as possible about the species, so we can raise awareness of how to keep them safe.
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"We are looking forward to welcoming visitors to join us for some exciting activities to learn about the differences between the two species, and which will come out on top in the Ocean Olympics! It's set to be a brilliant visit for all of the family this Easter, and we hope it will help visitors learn more about elasmobranchs and how to protect them.
There are around 440 known species of sharks and approximately 500 different species of rays in the seas around the world, the largest being the whale shark.
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