The Blue Planet Aquarium is a marine and freshwater aquarium located by the Cheshire Oaks retail and leisure complex in Ellesmere Port.
It was opened by the Queen in July 1998,and at the time it was the largest aquarium in the UK, and is still the largest in North West England.
The building was designed by Manchester-based Buttress Fuller Alsop architects to resemble the shape of a crashing wave. It was built by Cheshire-based developer Deep Sea Leisure (now owned by Aspro Ocio Group),at a cost of £12 million.
The aquarium contains more than 100 living displays, different exhibits from around the world with many varieties of marine and freshwater fish, including more types of shark than anywhere else in Britain. It also keeps a variety of amphibians reptiles and mammals.
You can watch the dive team feed the fish - all in front of the sharks at the awesome Aquatheatre window.
The aquarium's shark dive won the Visit Chester and Cheshire Awards 2010 category for Best Tourism Experience of the Year.
The 70m-long underwater tunnel allows a close up view of the giant Sand Tiger sharks, or nurse sharks, zebra sharks and the smallest sharks the Black Tips.
The aquarium is open all year - 1st Jan 2020 - 31st Dec 2020
Monday - Friday 10:00 - 17:00
Saturday - Sunday 10:00 - 18:00
* Last entry on weekdays is at 4pm, and weekends at 5pm
All Areas Accessible to Disabled Visitors
On-Site café/restaurant Picnic Site
Educational Visits Accepted Guided Tours Available for Groups - Pre-booked guided tour available for up to 15 people in a group for an additional £25
Ticket Types and prices can be seen at the following link:https://www.blueplanetaquarium.com/planning-your-visit-to-blue-planet-aquarium/tickets/
A report about the Blue Planet Aquarium by Liam Thorp appeared in the Liverpool Echo on 21st February 2019.
The report reads as follows;
"Now Brexit is even affecting SHARKS at the Blue Planet Aquarium
No one is safe from a no deal
Sharks have become the latest group to be impacted by the UK's impending departure from the European Union.
As the UK struggles to agree on a way forward and the possibility of a calamitous No Deal edges ever closer - many businesses in our region are fearful about the future.
And one of those is the popular Blue Planet Aquarium at Cheshire Oaks in Ellesmere Port.
The aquarium is having to take action to make sure that its sharks are not affected by the fall-out of a no deal Brexit on March 29.
The centre's 3.8m litre shark tank relies on a salting process that takes place on site at the aquarium.
Currently, all of the salt used in that process is imported from France because it is of the best quality and meets the centre's strict requirements.
A spokesman explained where the problem lies.
He said: "We take delivery of this salt usually every three months, however with the uncertainty surrounding Brexit we have hired a facility to store our salt, with an extra order, as there is no guarantee of a delivery being on-time after Brexit.
"Indeed we have had to hire a haulier from Romania to drive to France as there are so many lorries now unavailable due to stockpiling of all sorts of goods prior to Brexit.
"We have the storage facility near Lymm which has the salt our supplier cannot store in the UK due to stockpiling.
He added: "We have had to take these measures to ensure the safety of our marine life, and sharks.”
There are just five weeks to go until the UK leaves the European Union.
Prime Minister Theresa May is still struggling to get the support she needs in Parliament for her exit deal - meaning the possibility of a chaotic no deal departure is growing."
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