Deep Sea World roadshow visits

Orkney is to play host to a week-long marine life extravaganza next week.

Deep Sea World are bringing an action packed roadshow using live animals and interactive resources to teach children about the underwater world to the county from Monday.

The company are transporting an eclectic selection of its inhabitants to Orkney to visit thousands of children in schools across the county.

The event, part of the company’s Outreach Programme, has received support from far and wide, including a grant from Scottish Natural Heritage.

The programme has also been granted sponsored accommodation and ferry crossings for the duration of the event, and free arena access from the Pickaquoy Centre in Kirkwall for public ‘drop in’ sessions – allowing people who are not at school to catch a glimpse of the action.

During the event, which runs until Friday, children can learn how to handle, starfish, sea urchins and sea anemones, as well as local marine life collected from Orkney shores.

The roadshow is due to visit Dounby Primary School on Monday, while Glaitness Primary School pupils and youngsters from schools in Firth, Pierowall and Sanday are due to witness the event at the Pickaquoy Centre on Tuesday.

The show will be at Picky until 6pm on Wednesday, when it heads to North Walls Community School for an evening presentation.

The event will then return to the Pickaquoy Centre on Thursday, before finishing off by visiting Stromness Primary School on Friday.

During the attraction, youngsters can meet Britain's smallest shark – the Baby Lesser Spotted Dogfish, which grows to just under one metre in length.

The programme will also play host to a number of other animas, including snakes, frogs, toads and crabs.

Deep Sea World’s education/visitor supervisor, Paul Nixon, has been working on the Orkney project since January 2003, and is confident it will be a success.

He said: “Taking the Outreach Programme to Orkney is a fantastic opportunity to teach kids of all ages about marine life in a way that is educational but still lots of fun.

“We have had tremendous success in Scotland with the programme, enabling whole schools to benefit without the hassle of transporting hundreds of kids to the aquarium. This hassle is ten-fold for the school children in Orkney, so we are delighted to bring the aquarium to them.”