On November 20th Bristol saw the opening of a new Aspro aquarium under the Blue Reef brand, which offers a state of the art aquarium as well as an IMAX cinema.

Blue Reef Bristol hosts over 7,000 aquatic species in 75,000 litres of water over several tanks. Ranging from giant Pacific octopus, zebra sharks and more locally-based conger eels and bass, it offers a diverse experience of the world’s underwater inhabitants. Visitors will first be greeted by the structure of a sunken ship, a huge shipwreck display which focuses on local unsung heroes such as the wolf fish, flatfish, cod and Pollock. As they move through each of the exhibits, visitors will find they are travelling the globe, from the Tropical lakes and rivers, with four-eyed fish, to the Rainforest, home to the infamous piranha fish.

Blue Reef Bristol has installed hi-tech lighting to imitate day and night, as well as weather changes, making it as realistic as possible. The interactive panels provide the visitor with the necessary information to follow the tour. The IMAX cinema will be showing 3D films on marine themes, starting with Tribes of the ocean, by Jean-Michel Cousteau.

This new aquarium is the 40th Aspro owns and operates around Europe and its 9th in the United Kingdom. Blue Reef Bristol joins other four centres under the same brand in Hastings, Portsmouth, Tynemouth and Newquay. The goal of the aquarium is to achieve visibility for the underwater diversity from an educational and entertaining approach as well as a robust conservational message, specially designed for families and children. With an investment over 4 million, Aspro highlights again its commitment to the UK as one of its most important markets as well as aquaria as products which will contribute to a more balanced activity throughout the year.