The Blue Planet Aquarium is a marine and freshwater aquarium located by the
Cheshire Oaks retail and leisure complex in
Ellesmere Port
Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south of ...
,
Cheshire, England. When opened by the
Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
in July 1998,
it was the largest aquarium in the
UK, and is still the largest in
North West England. The
£12 million building was designed by Manchester-based Buttress Fuller Alsop architects to resemble the shape of a crashing wave.
It was built by Cheshire-based developer Deep Sea Leisure (now owned by
Aspro Ocio Group), who also built
Deep Sea World in
North Queensferry, Scotland.
Its stated aim is to "enlighten, increase knowledge and raise interest in the marine environment using an interactive, entertaining and sustainable approach."
Description
The interior houses tanks, pools and submerged tunnels designed to take the visitor through different habitats of the marine environment. The main aquarium tank holds and features a underwater
tunnel
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...
.
Themed areas include Tropical Rivers, Lakes and Ponds, Where Land Meets the Sea, and Seas and Oceans.
The aquarium contains many varieties of marine and freshwater fish, including more types of shark than anywhere else in Britain. It also keeps a variety of mammals, reptiles and amphibians.
Awards
The aquarium's shark dive won the Visit Chester and Cheshire Awards 2010 category for Best Tourism Experience of the Year.
Cheshire & Warrington Tourism Board: Visit Chester and Cheshire: And the winners are
(accessed 17 June 2010)
References
External links
*
*{{Official website, http://www.blueplanetaquarium.com/
Aquaria in England
Tourist attractions in Cheshire
Buildings and structures in Cheshire
Aspro Parks attractions
Ellesmere Port