A Grand Day Out

On Saturday, young George and I planned an outing to Edinburgh.  We were going to go to the zoo and see the penguins.   The great thing about going to the zoo in January is that it is practically EMPTY.  If you don't mind walking around in the cold (which we don't) you get to enjoy the zoo in relative peace.   As we travelled along the M8 toward Edinburgh, the big sign for Deep Sea World came into view.  

"George, it's decision time.  Deep Sea World or the zoo.  What do you want to do?"
"Deep Sea World!  Good call Mom!"

Ok, so we had an instant change of direction.   It takes us just as long to get to Deep Sea World in North Queensferry as it does to get to the zoo.   It is an indoor attraction, so naturally it was very crowded on a Saturday afternoon.


Under the Forth Bridge

 Deep Sea World is under one of the most beautiful bridges in the world, The Forth Bridge.



The Forth Road Bridge

 It is an elegant bridge and anytime I am driving across the The Forth Road Bridge (which I suspect was built so that we could have a better view of the rail bridge), I always want to stop, get out and feast my eyes.  Naturally, this would cause traffic chaos and I never do, but I think about it each and every time I drive over the Firth of Forth.

So, one of the benefits of visiting Deep Sea World in North Queensferry is the close proximity to beautiful Scottish engineering.  

It was, as we suspected, a lot more crowded than the zoo would have been.  The first time we took George to Deep Sea World, he was about two years old.  he came down with chicken pox two weeks later.  It is a hazard of taking children into the wider world.  They not only get to see the world around them, but they also get exposed to infection!

The two of us had a lovely day and we did not get ill afterward.  We had arrived just in time to see them feeding the two resident harbor seals.  A mother and daughter who had been taught a few crowd pleasing tricks.

We saw one of our favourite fish, the Picasso Triggerfish - (Pacific version)

Malawi Cichlids

We saw a number of other tropical fish that we have seen in the wild during dive trips.  When I saw them, it felt like we were stopping by to see old friends.


Sand Tiger - Deep Sea World 


Naturally they have the big shark tank and that is fun.  The sand tiger shark with its rows of pointy fish nibbling teeth is the star of that show by virtue of its size.  I have become quite immune to the charms of big sharks in the tank.  True to form, I was quite happy looking at the little stuff.  I think the smaller dogfish is much prettier and more interesting.


Spotted dogfish

After seeing all, watching the seals and frogs getting fed we called time and drove home. 

If you live in Scotland - please visit Deep Sea World  - it is well worth the effort!