Discover

Learning Lab

Our Learning Lab exhibit is the place to be for anybody looking to learn about our youngest creatures since it’s home to several of Bristol Aquarium’s babies and adolescents. Here, you’ll find plenty of unique and interesting facts about the species. The exhibit also gives our visitors the perfect opportunity to see these creatures up close and personal at their earliest development stages.

There’s always something new and exciting to learn about sea creatures, and there’s no better place to do it than at our Learning Lab here at Bristol Aquarium!

All About Learning Lab

A range of fun and interesting species live right here in our Learning Lab exhibit. From Blue Pipefish to Juvenile Big-Bellied Seahorses, our Learning Lab inhabitants come from regions all around the world, with most having origins in the UK, Mediterranean and Australia.

You can get up close to Short Snouted and Big Bellied Seahorses, Bangaii Cardinalfish and Blue Pipefish in our nursery displays. You can even pop your head up through the middle of our seahorse lighthouse and feel part of the action amongst the sea creatures and seagrass.

Can you spot all our rockpool inhabitants? You might need to look very closely! Some are very good at hiding, while other rockpool animals have perfected the art of camouflage which makes them difficult to see at first glance.

The Learning Lab’s Atmosphere

The species found in our exhibit thrive in rockpools with a temperate climate. The shallow waters are the best place for these young creatures to be at this stage of their development, and it also means it’s much easier for us to see them – even with some of their camouflaging capabilities!

We’ve made sure that the waters aren’t too hot or too cold, as they would be in their natural environments in waters off the UK, Mediterranean and Australia.

What Animals Are at Learning Lab?

The Learning Lab exhibit features Short Snouted Seahorses, Juvenile Big Bellied Seahorses, Bangaii Cardinalfish, and Blue Pipefish. But unlike our other exhibits, this one is filled with the babies and youngest creatures in the entire aquarium.

These fascinating creatures thrive near seagrasses and tend to stay in shallow areas because they’re not strong swimmers like other sea animals. Here, you can learn all about their unique development, as well as get to know their common behaviours and features. Discover the busy lives of mating seahorses and how the males actually do most of the work before learning about the smallest of the pipefish species. Meanwhile, you can also find out more about the Bangaii Cardinalfish which is not only the only fish in the genus but it’s also been nicknamed the Emperor Cardinal.

Our displays are here to get you up to speed about these fascinating sea creatures and how they grow and develop. We also have an excellent breeding program here at the aquarium, so hopefully soon there will be even more young sea creatures to visit and learn from!

Who is Learning Labs For?

Everyone from parents to young kids can enjoy this exciting educational experience. The exhibit is filled with interactive activities and fun facts, plus our staff are always on hand to help you learn more about the rockpool inhabitants here.

Everyone can get involved and have fun here!

Accessibility

All our exhibits are fully accessible and wheelchair friendly, which means everyone can be accommodated to come along and enjoy our wonderful creatures!

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