NEW BRISTOL AQUARIUM

20 November 2009

A SPECTACULAR marine wildlife film which took more than three years to make is to re-launch the IMAX 3D cinema and new £4million Blue Reef Aquarium in Bristol tomorrow (Fri).

Dolphins and Whales 3D - Tribes of the Ocean, narrated by actress Daryl Hannah and presented by Jean-Michel Cousteau, will be the first film shown at the former Wildwalk site, on the city's harbourside, since it closed in March 2007.

The film features 11 different species of whale and dolphin including humpback, orca and beluga whales alongside bottlenose dolphins and manatees.

The aquarium has innovative displays showcasing aquatic creatures from around the world with daily talks and feeding programmes and a calendar of special events and activities throughout the year.

The centrepiece is a coral reef housed within a gigantic ocean display, which is home to exotic species such as angelfish, bamboo sharks and black tip reef sharks and can be viewed through the inside of a glass cavern, a massive acrylic viewing window or via a glass tunnel.

More than 40 other naturally-themed displays, including mangrove, tropical rainforest and fast-moving river habitats sit alongside open-top tanks, caves, wooden walkways and bridges, revealing the diversity of life in the deep from crabs and lobsters to the amazing octopus and the bizarre shape-shifting cuttlefish.