MacDuff Marine Aquarium

I had a lovely day on Saturday: I went diving at the MacDuff Marine Aquarium.  It's not a very big dive - the tank is roughly 20 ft wide and 16 ft deep - but it's fuller of sea-life than anywhere else I've dived in the UK. 

All the inhabitants are native species.  There are large cod and their ling cousins; black rays; plaice; dogfish and bull huss (both are types of shark); several huge wolf-fish, ash grey with stripes and fangs; an enormous plaice about the size of my dining-table who snapped at other fish that came near while she was being fed; two varieties of wrasse, beautifully coloured and marked; and two conger eels that I hand-fed (no, I still have both hands; I was holding fillets of mackerel for them to grab). 

It's the closest I'm ever likely to get to that size, type and quantity of fauna in UK waters.  We've fished our seas practically to death and what's left is understandably shy, especially if you're blowing bubbles at the time.  Many fish view bubbles as a sign of aggression, but sometimes they enjoy them: a couple of plaice were swimming through the columns of bubbles from the aeration machinery, enjoying the tickling sensation.

The aquarium has several smaller tanks, with beasties whose native habitat varies from rock-pools to deep water.  One tank held baby jellyfish; another had lump-suckers, weird box-shaped fish that grip onto rocks with suckers on their bellies. 

The facility exists for education, and they do three "feeding shows" a week throughout the year (more in high summer) where you can watch divers interact with the fish. The kiddies were loving it, waving like mad at us through the glass, their little mouths going "ooh" and "aah" and grinning as we waved back.  Before the dive I found watching the fish through the glass fascinating, as you see bits of them you'd never get a look at otherwise - the underneath of flatfish, for example, which just lie in the sand and pretend they're not there when divers are around.  I'd never seen one actually swim before; they're very graceful, undulating like rays.

Sadly, as the Aquarium is owned by the Council, there have inevitably been funding cuts.  They've had to reduce staff and some exhibits are getting rather tired and crumbly.  However they're looking to recruit staff for the summer holidays, so if you're a diver looking for a summer job there's an opening for you up on the Moray Firth.  No previous experience required, no expertise except that you have to be a BSAC Sports Diver or equivalent to dive in the tank.  What they need is folk with people skills, who can talk to the kids and their parents, help with the feeding and selling in the shop, and generally make themselves useful.  Please pass the information on if you know anyone appropriate!

Even if you don't, if you're anywhere near Banff/Peterhead/Nairn go and visit the Marine Aquarium - it's a great day out if you have any interest in sea creatures.  I learnt a lot: fish ID had never been my strong point, but I'm never going to mistake any of the fish I saw on Saturday.