Easter holiday games at the National Marine Aquarium will be Ray-ly fun!

This Easter, the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth will be celebrating its family friendly ‘Shark and Ray Easter Games’. Running from 31st March - 15th April, the activities will give visitors the opportunity to learn more about sharks and their winged cousins, rays.

Visitors to the Aquarium will be able to take part in fun 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 sharks and rays that call the Aquarium home, as well as meet ‘Howie’ the Sand Tiger Shark and ‘Coolwhip’ the giant Honeycomb Whiptail Ray.

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.

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.

“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.

Shark and ray facts:
There are around 440 known species of sharks
There are approximately 500 different species of rays
The largest is the whale shark, which has been known to get as large as 18 meters (60 feet)
The giant oceanic manta ray is the largest type of ray in the world
Sharks and rays are a special group of fish that do not have bones in their skeleton, their skeleton is made from cartilage

Head to the Aquarium this Easter to take part in a fun themed trail around the building and to find who will come out on top between the rays and sharks!

To find out more and book your tickets, please visit www.national-aquarium.co.uk