From crabs to clownfish, all of the animals here at Bristol Aquarium are accustomed to having hundreds of visitors every week to watch and be admired by. Over the last months with various lockdowns suddenly there are no visitors coming through our displays, leaving only a few staff to keep the aquarium running and the fish fed.
So what happens to the fish? Well…they get very nosey! With less activity on the other side of the glass, the animals just have their keepers to watch as they go about their daily tasks. Over lockdown the keepers have noticed an increase in the amount of time the fish spend watching them or coming over to the front of the tanks. No doubt they are wondering where all of their visitors are!
The fishes miss you!
Our team of expert aquarists continue to work hard behind the scenes, making sure that every animal gets the highest standard in care. They also give the animals extra attention where possible to make up for the lack of visitors. The daily list of jobs for an aquarium keeper includes the daily food preparation, feeding, tank cleaning, maintenance and record keeping. Even with all of that to do, they are still making time to watch and interact with the animals and create enrichment.
On a normal day the animals pay little attention back to the aquarists as they watch them, so there has been a definite increase in the time they spend watching the team since lockdown began. It is especially noticeable for the bigger characters including the three Atlantic Wreckfish and Sheila the Giant grouper.
The Bristol Aquarium team (both staff and animals!) are looking forward to welcoming visitors back!