Deep Sea World is an aquarium located in the village of

North Queensferry North Queensferry is a village in Fife, Scotland, situated on the Firth of Forth where the Forth Bridge, the Forth Road Bridge, and the Queensferry Crossing all meet the Fife coast, some from the centre of Edinburgh. It is the southernmost se ...

, in

Fife Fife (, ; gd, Fìobha, ; sco, Fife) is a council area, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. It is situated between the Firth of Tay and the Firth of Forth, with inland boundaries with Perth and Kinross ...

, Scotland. It is host to a collection of large

sand tiger shark The sand tiger shark (''Carcharias taurus''), gray nurse shark, spotted ragged-tooth shark or blue-nurse sand tiger, is a species of shark that inhabits subtropical and temperate waters worldwide. It inhabits the continental shelf, from sandy sh ...

s, also known as ragged toothed sharks or grey nurse sharks, and various other species of shark.

History

The aquarium opened on 9 April 1993 in the site of the disused Battery Quarry, below the

Forth Rail Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...

. It is owned and operated by the

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

Aspro Ocio Group, who also run the

Blue Planet Aquarium The Blue Planet Aquarium is a marine and freshwater aquarium located by the Cheshire Oaks Designer Outlet, Cheshire Oaks retail and leisure complex in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. When opened by the Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom, Quee ...

in England and many other aquaria in Europe.

Exhibits

One of the main attractions is the long transparent

acrylic Acrylic may refer to: Chemicals and materials * Acrylic acid, the simplest acrylic compound * Acrylate polymer, a group of polymers (plastics) noted for transparency and elasticity * Acrylic resin, a group of related thermoplastic or thermosett ...

underwater viewing

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

, which is one of the longest of its kind in the world. The curvature of the thick acrylic causes a de-magnifying effect on all of the creatures in the exhibit—roughly one third reduction. The tank with the tunnel contains of sea water pumped in from the River Forth. This water is generally around , but varies with the season. Because of the low temperature most animals within the tunnel are from around Britain. Sand tiger sharks are generally found in warmer water, for example

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...

, US and South Africa. They easily adapt to the change in temperature, but the lower temperature reduces the rate of metabolism. The aquarium also displays various tanks and rock pools containing exotic fish and other sea animals. Seal pens at Deep Sea World - geograph

In 2005, the aquarium opened a new

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, or "true seal" ** Fur seal * Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...

enclosure which houses resident seals as well as injured ones rescued by the SSPCA.

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.deepseaworld.com Tourist attractions in Fife Aquaria in the United Kingdom 1993 establishments in Scotland Aspro Parks attractions