A Visit to Sea Life Loch Lomond
- Steph Rose
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
A dear friend of mine invited me along on a trip to the Sea Life centre at Loch Lomond recently. I hadn't visited since my first year at university as part of a practical for my first marine biology module. That was 17 years ago! I was interested to see what has changed and what has stayed the same in that time and the aquarium did not disappoint. I have lots to show you.
Lobsters galore
The aquarium has a collection of native lobster species, including European spiny lobster (Palinurus elephas) and European lobster (Homarus gammarus). In Scotland, European spiny lobsters live on the seabed around the western and northern coasts and, occasionally, the northeast coast. They prefer rocky seabeds at depths greater than 15 metres and like crevices and boulder holes they can hide in. They can grow to an impressive 60 cm in length and mature at around 10 cm. P. elephas numbers around Scotland have been in decline since the 1970s, likely due to a combination of factors, including fishing, environmental conditions, and water quality changes.
European lobsters are usually dark in colour, appearing almost black, but, like the individual at Sea Life Loch Lomond, some have a striking blue colour. They can be found around the entire Scottish coastline at depths of about 40 to 70 metres. They grow to around 25 cm in length and have an average lifespan of 45 to 50 years. Like the European spiny lobster, there are a number of pressures on H. gammarus populations, including fishing, habitat destruction, and pollution, and protection measures are in place in Scotland, with any lobster of a body length of less than 87 mm being protected under Scottish law.
Like other decapod crustaceans, lobsters have several different types of appendages that they use for different purposes. Starting with the furthest back, the tail fan has the uropods, which are used for propulsion and steering when swimming. The underside of the abdomen (the tail section) also has four pairs of feathery paddle-shaped appendages called pleopods, which beat back and forth for swimming. The five pairs of walking legs, or pereiopods, on the thorax are how decapods get their name but lobsters are probably best known for their crushing and pinching claws, or chelipeds, which are classed as the first set of pereiopods. Modified appendages called maxillipeds are one of the components of the mouthparts, handling and processing food and passing it to the mandibles. Meanwhile, the maxillae, as well as playing a role in feeding, also serve a sensory function, beating to manipulate water currents and pass water over the chemoreceptors on the lobster's head, allowing it to smell and taste the surrounding environment, something that this individual I captured on video shows off well.
As an aside, if lobsters interest you, the Forth Marine Hatchery in North Berwick is a conservation project that rears H. gammarus juveniles for release into the wild to restore population numbers. You can keep up with their work via their Facebook page.
A second chance for April
Sea Life Loch Lomond is also the home of a rescued olive ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) named April. Olive ridley sea turtles live in tropical waters, usually in the Pacific and Indian Oceans but they can also be found in the Atlantic. They are the second smallest of the seven species of sea turtle and the most abundant, though they are still vulnerable to a number of threats, including entanglement and ingestion of marine plastics.
April was found in the Maldives on the ocean surface entangled in ghost fishing gear and with a plastic bag caught around her neck. She had already lost her front right flipper and the left one was injured. She was brought to the Four Seasons Turtle Rehabilitation Centre, where she was cared for and her left flipper was able to heal. Unfortunately, April had also developed buoyancy syndrome, preventing her from diving, which meant she would no longer be able to survive in the wild.
With that in mind, Marine Savers and the Sea Life Trust teamed up to bring April to her new home at the coral reef area in Sea Life Loch Lomond, which mimics her natural habitat. This required an incredible 5000-mile journey, involving travel by speedboat, plane, and road before April could settle in at the Loch Lomond centre, where she now acts as an ambassador for the impacts of plastic pollution.
What a mermaid keeps in her purse
Within the centre, there are a selection of eggs on display that have been collected from the various shark and ray species that call Sea Life Loch Lomond home. These are made of tough keratin casings with tendrils that allow them to anchor onto rocks and seaweed. They are known as mermaid purses. However, only around 40% of shark species actually lay eggs. Others, like the blacktip reef sharks (Carcharhinus melanopterus) on display at the aquarium, give birth to live young. And the aquarium is also home to a zebra shark (Stegostoma tigrinum) that is able to reproduce without a partner in a process called parthenogenesis, laying eggs that contain a genetic clone of itself.
The lighting within the mermaid purse display means that the shark and ray embryos are able to be seen, even through the thick casing. In the video below, you can see this little lesser spotted dogfish as it moves around.
The lesser spotted dogfish (Scyliorhinus canicula), despite its name, is actually a species of catshark, also known as the small-spotted catshark. It is one of the most abundant shark species in Scottish coastal waters and they grow to just under 1 metre in length. They can also be quite social creatures, as exhibited by this little huddle that I saw.
The aquarium also has a rare albino individual that was caught by some fisherman and given to the Scottish Sealife Sanctuary in Oban, before eventually finding a new home at Sea Life Loch Lomond. You can partially see her tucked away in the picture below.
Little rays of sunshine
The cownose ray (Rhinoptera bonasus) is, in my opinion, one of the most unusual-looking ray species. They appear almost like they have two mouths, until feeding time comes and they open wide. Their diet consists of molluscs and crustaceans and they capture their prey via suction feeding by opening and closing their jaws, while the cephalic lobes, the flaps by the ray's mouth, unfurl to capture food and push it towards the mouth.
Cownose rays are native to the eastern coast of the United States, Brazil, and the Gulf of Mexico. They are most commonly found in shallow estuaries at depths of up to about 60 metres and can tolerate a wide range of salinities, allowing them to migrate and change habitats in response to resource availability. The cownose ray is currently listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, with the ray's biggest threat being overfishing.
Sea Life Loch Lomond is home to the only cownose rays in Scotland, named Mary, Sarah, and Winnie, and they arrived at the aquarium in 2016. They are quite a lively group and move really gracefully through their tank, wouldn't you agree? Just look at this video.
Sticking with elasmobranchs (sharks, rays, and their relatives), Sea Life Loch Lomond has the biggest variety of elasmobranch species in Scotland, as illustrated by this video I filmed in their tropical ocean tunnel. How many different species do you see?
This is, of course, just a small sampling of what can be seen at Sea Life Loch Lomond. If you're ever in the area, I would recommend checking it out for yourself.
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