Description: One of the main streets in St. Andrews, The Scores, follows the cliffs that rise out of the sea. There are many points where you can look out onto the beach, and one spot looks over into the aquarium. I had been drawn to it because out back, there is a large outdoor tank, and I could see some sort of animals playing in it. I wasn't sure what they were (my eyesight isn't the best), so I was very excited to finally see what was out there.
The aquarium is small, but it managed to pack a lot of information into a small space. It takes about 1.5 hours to see the whole thing, give or take, and you get to see quite a variety of sea creatures. They have over 30 tanks with about 100 types of animals. Everything from sea urchins to sharks has a home at the aquarium, and there is a good exhibit on the local fish in the area.
One of the exhbits that I found the most interesting was the seahorses. I have always thought they were interesting, but it was wonderful to actually see them up close and observe their behavior. They are very small and almost translucent. As they pass by seaweed, they wrap their little tails around the stalks to anchor themselves in the current. They only have tiny fins, so they probably can't move around very easily. I also learned that the male seahorse is the one who gets pregnant. Isn't that strange?
After what seemed like hours (very fun hours, but still...), we finally emerged on a platform outside overlooking the large tank that I had been eyeing for days. The large animals I saw were seals! There are two, Laurel and Hardy. They haven't been trained, so they just swim around a play all day. They had a few balls in the pool with them that they were playing with, and it was adorable. Everyone outside on the platform was laughing and smiling at how happy they were. The person feeding them told us that when the tide is unusually high, the sea will rise and flow into the tanks. Once, it was so high that the seals just swam right out into the North Sea! The people at the aquarium thought they were gone forever, but a few hours later, they came swimming back in. I guess that means they are happy!
On-site, they also have a cafe/restaurant called Catch. Their gift shop had a lot of wonderful gifts and books that I looked at for quite a while. They have family passes for different sizes that will save you a few pounds, so be sure to ask about those. Even if you don't have kids, you will still really enjoy the aquarium. I learned a lot, not just about the local fish and sea creatures, but about many others that aren't from around Scotland. Make sure to check it out.
Close