Dingle Aquarium - Coldwater Marine

Wave Tank containing species such as Pollock, Coley and Cod


Blackbelly Rosefish and Blue Lobster


Ocean Tunnel Tank containing species such as Congor Eels, Rays, Cod and Spider Crabs


In the photograph below, there's a Sting Ray on the sandy bottom and if
you look closely at the bottom photograph, there's a group of basking sharks.

That looks like a pretty good aquarium!! Nice photos too

I hate seeing conger eel in a tank - they are migratory fish (for breeding) and to mee it seems rather cruel to deny them (being such big fish) - besides, in an aquarium, they greatly reduce the growth rate - in the wild, they can grow absolutely huge (trawlers report upto 400lb in weight - british rod record I believe is around 125lb in weight)

Same for basking sharks - why is such a wonderful creature (thats endangered and very hard to keep in captivity) kept in a bowl

Of course, anyone could scream (and rightly so) Hypocrisy - however, I dont do it as a tourist attraction and Ive only got the one conger eel in the bath

All valid points but you could also argue that, by appreciating the species in captivity, it draws attention to any potential problems that the wild populations may face.

There's a fine line to be drawn in all cases of keeping anything in captivity isnt there - birds, reptiles, fish.......the list goes on.

I suppose at the end of the day the only real right thing to do is not to keep anything, and let nature go its own way, but seeing animals close up gives us a whole lot of pleasure and just maybe raises some awareness of how much they need to be looked after in the wild

yey again great photos mary thanx for sharing




dekker

Of these species, the huge lobsters and spider crabs were my favourites. Their claws were about a foot long...

Well - the thing with captive animals is that I know you cant tar all the same withthe same brush - but |I do feel a sense of proportion is needed

As a side note - not many know this but wild syrian hamsters are extinct int he wild - yet there are millions kept as pets globally

In the case of conger eel - they are not in any danger as such so in that respect, there is no need to keep live ones in an aquarium

Ive zero against endangered species being kept in zoos - I know the same argument as above could be applied to (for example) rhino - but the average conger isnt likely to have itd head blown off doe the sake of a body part which some person may think will increase their labido (hve they never heard of viagra )

Each case has its merits and no im not saying release animals back tot he wild that have been bred in capitivity or been captive for so long, theyd probably suffer more by being wild again (shamu is the classic example)