Penguin Passport
For Penguin Passport bookings please contact us on 066 9152111
Marine Rangers Summer Camp
Beach Clean 2013
Oceanworld Aquarium undertook a Beach Clean on Saturday 2nd March at Feothanach. 4 members of staff from the aquarium along with some helpers filled 40 bags of rubbish from the small beach which weighed over 280Kgs!
This is what the van looked like after the beach clean!
Daily Feeding Timetable
1pm 2pm 3pm 4pm
Monday Native River Penguins Amazon Waterfall Penguins
Tuesday Touch Tank Penguins Ocean Tunnel Penguins
Wednesday Amazon Waterfall Penguins Sharks Penguins
Thursday Touch Tank Penguins Ocean Tunnel Penguins
Friday Amazon Waterfall Penguins Sharks Penguins
Saturday Amazon Waterfall Penguins Ocean Tunnel Penguins
Sunday Touch Tank Penguins Sharks Penguins
Please call to check daily feeding displays.
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2012 Penguin Egg Update!
Penguin Eggs Update –We’re sorry to announce that there will be no chicks hatched at Oceanworld Aquarium this year. Hugh and Candy had been doing a fabulous job of looking after and incubating their 2 eggs, but they were still incubating over a week after the eggs were due to hatch, so keepers stepped in to see what was going on.
Head Keeper Kate Hall said, “We wanted to have a completely hands off approach to the breeding season, and let the parents do all the work for as natural a situation as possible. We checked the eggs daily for signs of hatching but as the days went on and there was no progress, it was time to step in.”
The eggs were carefully removed from the nest and “candled”, a process that allowed keepers to see inside the eggs and check the development of the embryo.
“We found that we could see right through the eggs, which meant that a chick hadn’t developed.
Although it is disappointing, especially with all the care and attention Hugh and Candy gave to their eggs, we were always aware that the eggs only had a small chance of hatching.
Despite this, it is great progress for the group as a whole, and gives us hope for successful breeding in future years.”
News from 2012: New Arrivals at Dingle Oceanworld Aquarium.
Sturgeon (Bradán Fearna)
Summer 2011 News: A Strange Discovery...
A strange discovery was made this week on Ventry beach, just a few miles from us by Kevin Flannery, a Marine expert and Director of the Aquarium. Kevin found around 10 Phronima Sedentaria, a deep water species. This animal is thought to be the inspiration behind the Alien Queen Xenomorpha Regina from the movie Aliens. The Phronima is a parasite which invades the host tunicate, hollowing out it’s body to create a barrel shaped ‘house’ which the Phronima then carries around with it. It then lays it’s eggs inside giving extra protection to it’s young. The Phronima had very large eyes which face upward, helping it to spot any light penetrating the deep sea. It is an amphipod, meaning different footed’, it’s first pair of legs have claws which it uses to carve out the inside of it’s living host.
Phronima are normally found in deep water and have a worldwide distribution but are rarely found close to shore. This is definitely an ‘Alien’ to Ventry!
