Prochilodus246
Well-Known Member
Today I visited SeaLife in Manchester. I had been almost ten years since I last visited and to be honest like most SeaLife centres it hasn't changed much in that time frame. Due to me having a promotional packs of Cadbury's products I manged to get £9.00 knocked off the regular ticket price for this time of year, otherwise it is unlikely I would have visited given the high prices of these places.
I was somewhat dreading the visit as it being the Easter holidays I expected it to be considerably busier but I was very wrong and by half past three the whole place was virtually empty. The staff in the centre had varying degrees of knowledge with some knowing lots and some little to none at all. A mention to the gentleman who helped me ID most of the occupants of the tanks that I was unsure of myself. He was even kind enough to print off the stock lists of some of the tanks too!
As signage at SeaLife centres can be very hit and miss I found Manchester's to be informative and listed most if not all occupants of certain tanks. Some of the smaller species in the main tank weren't signed and some tanks particularly the ones holding native British marine fish weren't either but on the whole signage could have been better, but could have also been much, much worse.
For a species photographer I managed to see a number of new species but nothing was too out of the ordinary but I enjoyed seeing Southern fiddler rays Trygonorrhina fasciata, a Sabre squirrelfish Sargocentron spiniferum & an Arabian angelfish Pomacanthus asfur in the Stingray Bay tank.
Photography was alright but could have been a lot easier. The curvature of certain tanks, the lighting and glass reflections made pictures tricky at times but I'm happy with the quality of most of the photos taken today. I'll be soon posting on the gallery of my personal favourites.
Overall, as with most SeaLifes they are quite samey and if you have a promotional pack with reduced entry prices give them a shot. You won't miss out if you don't go to one, they're good to spend a couple of hours in and not out of this world, just an average aquarium really.
I was somewhat dreading the visit as it being the Easter holidays I expected it to be considerably busier but I was very wrong and by half past three the whole place was virtually empty. The staff in the centre had varying degrees of knowledge with some knowing lots and some little to none at all. A mention to the gentleman who helped me ID most of the occupants of the tanks that I was unsure of myself. He was even kind enough to print off the stock lists of some of the tanks too!
As signage at SeaLife centres can be very hit and miss I found Manchester's to be informative and listed most if not all occupants of certain tanks. Some of the smaller species in the main tank weren't signed and some tanks particularly the ones holding native British marine fish weren't either but on the whole signage could have been better, but could have also been much, much worse.
For a species photographer I managed to see a number of new species but nothing was too out of the ordinary but I enjoyed seeing Southern fiddler rays Trygonorrhina fasciata, a Sabre squirrelfish Sargocentron spiniferum & an Arabian angelfish Pomacanthus asfur in the Stingray Bay tank.
Photography was alright but could have been a lot easier. The curvature of certain tanks, the lighting and glass reflections made pictures tricky at times but I'm happy with the quality of most of the photos taken today. I'll be soon posting on the gallery of my personal favourites.
Overall, as with most SeaLifes they are quite samey and if you have a promotional pack with reduced entry prices give them a shot. You won't miss out if you don't go to one, they're good to spend a couple of hours in and not out of this world, just an average aquarium really.