The warmer weather means that we can get out and about without the fear of getting soaked in the rain. If you are hit with a rainy day and the kids are climbing the walls, you could take them to Exploris in Portaferry.
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There is a lot to see at Exploris Portaferry, and the photos in this post are only a drop in the ocean of what is currently in my camera roll right now. the first thing I will say is don’t be put off by the size of Exploris. It is smaller than a lot of the aquariums in England (or anywhere else) but there is plenty to see in this little space.
One of my favourite things was the tunnel where you can see fish glide over your head. There is a nice seating area just off it where you can chill out. My eldest took the opportunity to sit and draw some of the fish in the big tank that are a bit shy.
If there is one thing that you need to know about Exploris, it’s that they love seals. Here’s a bit of info about their work with seals from their website–
“Exploris Aquarium has been operating its seal sanctuary since 1989. In the beginning it had limited facilities, however, in 1999 a purpose-built facility was built. This was funded by Ards Borough Council now Ards & North Down Borough Council, Northern Ireland Electricity and the Northern Ireland Tourist Board.
The main philosophy of the sanctuary is to rehabilitate sick, injured or abandoned seal pups. As the seal pupping is seasonal, it means at certain periods we have no seals in our hospital.”
Some of the tanks were beautifully lit with black lights to show the colours of the coral. The picture doesn’t do it justice. The colours are vivid and full of life.
One of the newest arrivals to the centre is the Humboldt penguins who have resided at Exploris since March 2021.
“Their name, Humboldt penguin, comes from a German explorer called Alexander von Humboldt. They are one of eighteen known species and would be average sized compared to some of the other species.
Research suggests that there are approximately 24,000 Humboldt penguins left in the wild, maybe fewer. Elements such as overfishing, destruction of habitat, invasive predators, caught by fishing boats and more have had an impact on their ability to thrive in the wild. As such, Humboldt Penguins are vulnerable to extinction. So we are very fortunate to keep them here at Exploris.
Humboldt penguins are native to South America, living along the coasts of Chile and Peru where they have a nickname, ‘pajaro-niño’ which means baby bird. The climate there is quite like here, so these guys are very comfortable just living at Exploris’ Penguin Island.
Here at Exploris we feed our penguins around five kilos of sprat every day (between them all, not each!). This also changes on a seasonal basis as penguins usually eat a lot less food around their annual moulting period at the end of Summer.
If we’re completely honest, the penguins are one of the dirtiest animals in the aquarium. Their pool gets brushed twice a day and deep cleaned every month, but it gets grubby again very quickly. They like to keep our animal team busy!!
Whilst visiting, you’ll notice they all wear little coloured armbands. That’s just so that we can tell them apart as they all have their own names and personalities. They’re named after Greek gods and goddesses, examples of this are Artemis, Hera, Athena, Demeter, Apollo, Bacchus, etc.”
If your little one’s love Disney, they will love seeing the clown fish. There is a lot of different tanks with a wide selection of fish to view. This little guy was in one of the blacklight tanks, swimming among the coral. There are bigger tanks with LOADS more brightly coloured fish to capture the imagination of your little ones.
Seeing the rays glide above your head is a magical experience. Further along the trip in the centre, you will go over a bridge and can see the Ocean Tank and the tunnel from above.
I’m not going to lie, I stood like a child and put my hand on the glass to get close to the rays! Standing in the tunnel is amazing and very relaxing. Even the little ones (who always want to race on to the next thing) stood for a good 15 minutes, watching quietly as the rays glided above them.
One of the wonderful things about Exploris is showing the natural diversity in the area. The Irish Sea has a wealth of local wildlife and it often gets overlooked in favour of the bright fish that live in warmer waters. It was great to see the information and the history of the area been shown with pride.
One of my favourite fish to see is the Lion Fish. As a kid, I had a book about deadly animals (it might have been a pop-up book) and the Lion Fish was one of the animals featured. Is it very deadly? Yes. Did I want to touch it? Yes. Did I stand at the tank for too long? Also yes.
What is a trip to the aquarium without sharks? I’m not sure what type of sharks live in the Ocean Tank but there are no Great Whites. There are a few sharks which are native to the area but I don’t think these guys fit in around here.
Getting up close to some of the strangest looking creatures of the sea is part of the charm. Some of the tanks are cylinders allowing you to walk all around and view from the creatures from different angles.
One tank that surprised me was the Horseshoe Crab tank. I’ve never seen one of these guys with my own eyes. they zoom about the tank like, well, mini tanks! If you don’t know, these guys are important as their blood is used in medical science.
White frogs can be found, and yes, they are creepy. I don’t know much about frogs, they didn’t move very much, and they lay so still I thought they were dead! They were not as they moved suddenly and scared the life out of me! That’s what I get for putting my face too close to the tank.
This tank was the cutest with the tiny starfish. I want to say that they were the size of a 50p, I could be wrong. However, I’m pretty sure that I could have put them in my hand. You are not allowed to touch the starfish (or any of the fish) but it didn’t stop me from thinking about it.
This chilled out dude was huge! His enclosure was very impressive as it appeared to have been inspired by Indiana Jones. You can’t see it very well but the stone waterfall in the background is a skull shape and there is a collection of “bones” in there too.
There is so much to see and do at Exploris Portaferry. You can finish your trip around the aquarium with some food in the Kraken Bar and Grill. They make an amazing local fry, the traybakes are massive, and the kids meals are reasonably priced. And of course, the trip had to be finished off with a trip to the gift shop!