Valentine’s Day is not too far off and romance may be in the air, or rather in the water, for a resident shark at a Cheshire Oaks attraction.
Blue Planet Aquarium has brought in a pair of powerful Giant Lemon sharks, both adult females, to join resident male Sunrise in the run-up to the romantic celebration.
Whether there may soon be little lemon sharks in the stunning 3.8m litre display is not yet known.
The sharks, each measuring over 2.5m in length, have been added to the aquarium ready for its ‘Fintastic February’ half term event running from February 13-21.
'In the mood for love'
Phil Jones at the aquarium said: “We are inviting visitors to come up with appropriate names for the new arrivals which each weigh around 150kgs.
“With Valentine’s Day just around the corner we’re also hoping the lemon sharks will get in the mood for love.”
He explained: “They were initially being looked after in our quarantine tank which is linked to the main 3.8m litre Caribbean Reef display.
“Sunrise was definitely able to sense their presence and he showed quite a lot of interest when they were finally released into the main display,
“Lemon sharks are extremely powerful and definitely fulfil everyone’s vision of what a true shark should look like.
“Their arrival has certainly added a little extra zest to the aquarium and we’re looking forward to hearing visitors’ naming suggestions.”
How did they get here?
The super sharks were transported to Blue Planet in large vans with tanks of seawater plus a whole host of life support systems including filters and heaters.
They arrive at a special entrance into the quarantine area and are skilfully eased the short distance to the quarantine pool.
The sharks then spent time acclimatising and being health checked before being allowed to swim out into the main display.
In the wild they are often found in shallow sub tropical waters.
