Under Lake Windermere

Lakes Aquarium | Visitor Guide Lakes Aquarium – Finding your way around Ground floor The Rainforest Africa Virtual The Americas Dive Bell A re-created At the journey below Seashore Lake Windermere Over Lake Tank Asia Mirror carp Continue this way Stairs Lift Lift At the Sterlet Seashore Ballan wrasse Seahorse Ray Stairs to Tufted duck ground floor Exit Stairs to 1st floor Shop The English Lake District Entrance The Rainforest First floor Goliath spider Red-eyed Pygmy tree frog marmoset Africa Piranha Virtual The Americas Dive Bell A re-created At the journey below Blind cave fish Seashore Lake Windermere Over Pacu Lake Tank Asia Continue this way Stairs Lift Lift At the Asian short- Seashore clawed otter Stairs to ground floor Exit Stairs to 1st floor Shop The English Lake District Entrance Brown trout Roach Harvest mice Your guide to the Lakes Aquarium Explore the lakes of the world and discover some incredible creatures – from otters in Asia, piranhas in the Americas and cheeky marmosets in the Rainforest. Not forgetting all your favourite creatures that live a bit closer to home, including diving ducks in the spectacular underwater tunnel, as well as seahorses and rays at the seashore. Remember to pay a visit to the world’s first Virtual Dive Bell. Experience a spectacular interactive adventure and come face to face with awesome virtual creatures including a terrifying shark, charging hippo and fierce crocodile – without getting wet! 2 Contents 1 Finding your way around – quick reference map 2-3 Your guide to the Lakes Aquarium 4-5 The English Lake District 6-7 Asia 8-9 The Americas 10-11 The Rainforest 12-13 Virtual Dive Bell 14-15 Under Lake Windermere 16-17 At the Seashore 18 Day in the life of an Aquarist 19 Your questions answered 20-21 Destination Lakeside 3 Lakes Aquarium | Visitor Guide The English Lake District The English Lake District is one of the British Isles’ most awe inspiring and breathtaking landscapes. Designated as a National Park in 1951, the Lake District is a relatively un-spoilt oasis for wildlife. The lakes and fells of the area, and a varied temperate climate, offer a lush environment for a range of fascinating and intriguing creatures. Brown trout Roach Harvest mice When brown trout are Not native to Windermere, The only rodent in the ready to spawn, they roach have been British Isles to have a migrate upstream, often introduced by pike anglers prehensile tail. leaping up waterfalls who once used them as and rapids. live bait. Life span: 18 months. Size: Smallest rodent in Key characteristic: Population: There are the British Isles – only Streamlined body, more roach than any weighing the same as adapted to fast flowing other species of fish in a 2 pence piece. water. Windermere. Diet: Small fish and Size: Up to 1.9kg. invertebrates. Oscar says: Bassenthwaite is the only official lake in the Lake District, the rest are ‘waters’ 4 or ‘meres’. Water voles Once a common sight, water voles in the Lake District are now facing extinction, largely due to loss of habitat and the accidental release of larger predators What is ‘temperate’? into the wild. Temperate describes geographical areas with weather that is neither What can you do to help? too hot, too cold, nor too wet or Help us to monitor the wild population too dry. Temperate areas include by taking part in the Cumbrian Water most of Europe, North America Vole Project. For more details and further and Southern Australia. information on how you can help, see www.watervole.org 5 Lakes Aquarium | Visitor Guide Asia Asia spans nearly half the Northern hemisphere, with the world’s highest mountain range supplying water to the most urbanised river systems on Earth. Some of the world’s rarest creatures cling to what survives of these declining aquatic ecosystems. At home in India and South East Asia is the Asian short-clawed otter. Curious and mischievous by nature, these otters live in a variety of diverse habitats from mangrove swamps to small streams and marsh land. As the smallest of the otter species, adults rarely exceed 90cm in length, from nose to tail. • Otters are part of the mustalid family, which also includes weasels, ferrets and wolverines. • Asian short-clawed otters are diurnal – meaning that they are active during the day, returning to the security of their holts at night. Asian short- clawed otter • With two layers of fur, otters stay both warm and dry. The lower layer of fur has the effect of insulation, whilst the outer layer has an oily coating which is essentially waterproof. • They have very dexterous front paws which they use to forage for food in murky swaps or dense foliage. Oscar says: An otter’s house is called a holt. 6 Otters in danger! There are 13 different species of otter in the world and several are listed as endangered, including the sea otter and the giant river otter. Otters native to England (the Eurasian otter) are under threat, having experienced a decline in population during the 20th Century. What can you do to help? Various conservation groups have had success in reintroducing orphan otters, building holts and improving water ways, however there is The Asian short- clawed otter still much work to be done. More information is available from the Environment Agency (www.environment-agency.gov.uk) 7 Lakes Aquarium | Visitor Guide The Americas The Americas are the lands of the Western hemisphere, consisting of the continents of North America and South America. The Americas are home to the awesome Amazon river which is the world’s largest river – engulfing approximately 40% of South America. Piranha Blind cave fish Pacu Piranhas are notoriously As eyes have no function Pacu have very human aggressive feeders, in deep, dark caves they like teeth, evolved for an however they only really develop extra taste buds omnivorous diet. become ferocious when on their heads making prey is scarce. them super sensitive to Diet: Nuts, fruit and their environment. occasional fish and Diet: Small fish, fledgling invertebrates. birds and small mammals. Size: Approximately 5cm. Size: Up to 120cm. Location: Throughout the Location: Mexico. Amazon basin. Oscar says: The Amazon is a very wet place – with nearly 3 metres of rain per year! 8 Mangroves Mangroves are found in equatorial America; including countries such as Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela. Mangroves are now under serious threat from deforestation and pollution caused by excessive coastal development and the shrimp farming industry. What can you do to help? Avoid buying pond-raised shrimp or prawns from supermarkets - these are often bred at fish farms created by the destruction of mangroves. Mangroves 9 Lakes Aquarium | Visitor Guide The Rainforest Tropical rainforests are a rich and bountiful environment, home to an abundance of life – the total number of species remains unknown as scientists believe that there may be millions of new species yet to be discovered. Goliath spider Red-eyed tree frog Pygmy marmoset When fully grown, goliath Adept climbers, red-eyed Unlike some monkeys, spiders can measure up to tree frogs have suction pygmy marmosets’ tails 30cm across, making them cup toes that allow are not prehensile. the largest spiders in them to hang from the Weight: 130g (fully grown). the world! underside of leaves. Diet: Spiders, grasshoppers, Diet: Crickets, moths Diet: Moths, flies, fruit and tree sap. and mice. grasshoppers, and possibly Age: Female, up to 25 other small frogs. years, male up to 6 years. Location: Tropical central America. Oscar says: Rainforests produce 40% of the Earth’s oxygen – that’s the stuff we breathe! 10 Deforestation It is believed that within the next 25 years, nearly half of the world’s species of plants, animals and microorganisms will be destroyed or severely threatened due to rainforest deforestation. What can you do to help? Use forest friendly wood and paper products that are either recycled or use wood sourced from well managed Deforestation forests, certified by the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council). 11 Source: www.rain-tree.com Lakes Aquarium | Visitor Guide Virtual Dive Bell Experience the world’s first Virtual Dive Bell and come face to face with awesome creatures including a terrifying bull shark, charging hippo and fierce Nile crocodile – without getting wet! State of the art technology and realistic CG graphics provide a unique and totally absorbing insight into life in murky waters. Virtual Nile crocodile Virtual bull shark Virtual hippopotamus Crocodiles have the Sharks get new teeth Hippos consume around strongest bite of any every two weeks and 68kg of grass per night! animal – up to 15 times can get through several Size: Up to 1.5 tonnes. more powerful than thousand in a lifetime. Location: Rivers and lakes a rottweiler. in sub-Saharan Africa. Size: Up to 3m. Location: Sub-Saharan Diet: Fish, dolphins and Africa, the Nile basin, and even other sharks. Madagascar. Diet: Fish, zebras, small hippos, porcupines, birds, other crocodiles and humans. Oscar says: Don’t miss the virtual journey – it’s really cool! 12 Hippos critically endangered The wild hippo population has been in decline for many years, but in 2006 they were added to the UCINs ‘Red List’. Many believe that this is due to poaching – hippos are being killed for their long, ivory like teeth. What can you do to help? Many people buy animal-product gifts when holidaying abroad, usually by mistake – they don’t realise that they are the genuine article. Always make sure that you know the origin of the gifts you are buying. Endangered hippos 13 Lakes Aquarium | Visitor Guide Under Lake Windermere Windermere is Britain’s largest natural lake, a truly picturesque expanse of water flanked by both stunning fells and tranquil woodland.

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