Cape Town is home to a variety of marine life, but you don’t have to go to the depths of the ocean to see it all. The Two Oceans Aquarium offers visitors an opportunity to get up close and interact with the wonders of the ocean.
Picture: Two Oceans Aquarium.
If you wondered how sea creatures are cared for and how the Aquarium’s support systems work, then you are in luck. The Aquarium offers memorable behind-the-scenes tours to visitors over the age of eight.
The guided tours are by Aquarium curatorial staff members who chaperone visitors beyond the surreal seafloor -which lies aboveground! – into the engine room that keeps it afloat.
Here is where all the magic begins. Staff work tirelessly feeding, cleaning, and monitoring systems to maintain a healthy environment for marine life. But interestingly, research the needs of new species they discover
One of these unique newcomers was this beautiful Nemopsis sp. hydrozoan. Hydrozoans like this may look like individual animals but are actually made up of clones of thousands of individuals working together. Gems like this are often only visible on the behind-the-scenes tour of the aquarium. Picture: Ayrton King/ Two Oceans Aquarium
Visitors are spoiled with never seen features of the Aquarium and so it’s been a hit so far.
‘I was fascinated with the tour. When you walk through the Aquarium you don’t realise what happens behind the scenes. It seems like it’s such an easy job but I didn’t realise that it took such hard work to run the Aquarium,’ one visitor said. ‘How you get your water into the Aquarium… what an amazing process!… I will recommend this to everyone.’
Want to see how a shark eats, or a penguin snacks? The Aquarium is the perfect place to do just that. You can visit their website here to book a tour today.
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