Year 4 were lucky enough to visit the fantastic Sea Zoo on Anglesey for a specialist Beach Safari with the help of a marine biologist as part of our outreach research into local marine life. It was a natural extension to our current work on all things Australian.
Comparing the creatures who populate the Menai Straits reef to their seemingly more exotic cousins Down Under, proved to be a very illuminating experience- it turns out that our shores are full of the most amazing fish and animals too!
Despite the challenges the weather presented as we set off in pouring rain from Chester, the micro-climate on Anglesey meant that we had lots of time to explore every rock, shell and pool before returning to the Aquarium to see an even wider range of local sea-life.
Who knew how much fun it was catching Sand-Hoppers from under the seaweed and learning how to identify male and female crabs? Or, that all those seemingly ‘dead’ crabs you often find on the beach are actually ‘moults’ of newly grown crabs who squeeze themselves out leg by leg, claw by claw! Watching sea anemones bloom when placed back in the sea water was brilliant fun too. Fascinating stuff for our young biologists.
The girls have certainly returned inspired and delighted at all they learned and discovered on a very special trip.
