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THE AQUATIC ATTRACTIONS OF GREAT YARMOUTH?
Text by David Marshall
Photographs by Sue and David Marshall
The Norfolk seaside town of Great Yarmouth is famous for its
golden sands, amusement arcades and vast choice of fast foods.
However, for Aquarists, it holds the magic of having three places
of aquatic interest, all within a few minutes' walk of each
other, situated on the main promenade.
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The Great Yarmouth Sea-Life Centre
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Sue and I had heard so many excellent comments, through both
'word of mouth' and on the Internet, about this attraction that
we walked through the entrance door with high expectations.
We would not be disappointed as the displays here are excellent
and cover a vast array of aquatic life.
The first section is home to several large and themed aquaria,
which display a diversity of native marine fish. Among the fish
to be seen are Conger Eel, various Wrasse, Nursehound and Gilthead.
The second section features Compass, Upside-down and Moon Jellyfish.
Please note that anyone with an aversion to strobe lighting
should not linger very long in this section.
Now we move on to the glory of 'Shark Bay'. Ten aquaria, of
various sizes, are home to a wonderful array of creatures both
native to the North Sea and those which have been brought to
the Centre after been carried to Norfolk on the Gulf Stream.
The mischievous activities of the Tompot Blenny were a joy to
behold whilst the beauty of Blue Triggerfish (hundreds of miles
from home) was here for all to see. This area ends with a touch
pool and the Warden was truly enjoying himself as he explained
the fascination of Starfish and various Crabs to entranced visitors.
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The Warden explains the wonders of
Starfish
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In the 'Harbour' Pollack and Cuckoo Wrasse are beautifully
displayed.
Now we enter the 'Tropical Zone'. Here you are best to forget
the fact that fish from different corners of the World are mixed
together and just sit back and enjoy the excellent displays.
Three tropical freshwater aquaria begin the 'Zone'. The first
of these is a well planned 'fish senses' display that mixes
Blind Cave Characins and Black Ghost Knifefish in order to show
the use of electrical navigation in certain fish. To display
livebearers the next aquaria mixes Platys, Guppies and Swordtails
whilst, for some reason, throwing a few small egglaying Characins
into the mix. The final aquaria of the three, houses Amazonian
Stingrays, Congo Tetras and one of the largest Clown Loach I
have seen in many a year. A wonderful Chinese River Turtle and
Axolotls complete the freshwater displays.
What follows are several spectacular tropical marine displays.
All of the aquaria here are beautifully decorated and complemented
with fish of high quality. Various Tangs and Porcupinefish were
the highlight for me. The tunnel that ends this 'Zone' would,
I am sure, be the favourite attraction for many visitors, due
to its various Sharks and shoal of Fingerfish; however, I actually
preferred the smaller displays.
'Pirates Cove' continues the tropical marine theme. Young visitors
were eager to see the 'Nemo' exhibit as here are all their favourite
film characters 'in the flesh'. Sue was taken with the many
Seahorse exhibits which end the visit.
B y the time you read this report a newly constructed Penguin
exhibit will add even more to the attraction.
What you need at the Yarmouth Sea-Life Centre is plenty of
time. My condensed report does not give the Centre the full
credit it deserves. The 'must visit' Great Yarmouth attraction.
2. Amazonia World of Reptiles
GY7
In contrast to the Sea-Life Centre this attraction is not,
as yet, fully established. Here you find yourself in a large
display area similar to that of a Zoological Garden Tropical
House. Three centre-piece displays are surrounded by a large
number of variously sized glass enclosures, vivariums and 'bug
display' areas. Well arranged tropical plant displays and authentic
jungle sounds complete the picture.
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Authentic jungle surround
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The collection of amphibians and reptiles is excellent and
includes Garter Snake, Asian Box Turtle, Horsefaced Tortoise,
Green Iguana and Speckled Caiman. What all of the creatures
displayed had in common was that they looked in good health
and had plenty of space in which to move around.
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One of many well cared for snakes
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What about the fish interest? Built around two of the centre-piece
display areas, for a large American Alligator and various Turtles
respectively, are ponds containing assorted strains of Goldfish.
You could tell that these fish were in good health by both their
size and deep body colour.
We enjoyed this attraction and recommend that you pay a visit.
3. Merrivale Miniature Village
For sheer family escapism they have thought of everything here.
Beautifully landscaped gardens are contrasted with model displays
that not only depict scenes from both modern day life and long
gone days but also include a terrific model railway layout.
Plenty of seating allows the chance to relax and, literally,
return to childhood days as you revel in the model castle (complete
with damsel in distress), 60's Zoo (the model animals here are
fantastic although you would have needed to visit China to have
seen so many Giant Panda) and 60's Funfair among many others.
And yes, there are fish here also! In the main lake we counted
3 large Koi but there could have been more as a roped -off section
was full, at the time of our visit, with hundreds of fry. As
this was mid-May a number of channels running into the lake
were home to growing Frog tadpoles.
As your Merrivale visit ends forget the fast food establishments
and spend time relaxing in the excellent cafeteria here with
its large selection of snacks and cooked meals.
For us the Merrivale experience was an unexpected delight.
So Aquarists here is your chance to suggest to the family that
a visit to Great Yarmouth may be a good idea. I suppose you
could conveniently forget, until you are walking down the promenade,
that you had a fishkeeping motive behind such a suggestion!
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