Turtles grow in popularity ahead of movie’s release

FOUR new turtles have been released into a tank at The Deep – in time for today’s release of the new animated movie A Turtle’s Tale.

Staff at The Deep say the creatures are already proving a hit with visitors, as excitement builds over the new film, which charts the adventures of Sammy the sea turtle, as he swims the ocean in search of his lost love.

Representing two different species, yellow spotted Amazon river turtles and Geoffroy’s side necked turtles, the turtles join silver arowana, ripsaw catfish, tiger shovelnose catfish and pacu, which have already made their home in the aquarium’s new freshwater Amazon Flooded Forest display.

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This exhibition looks at the forests surrounding the Amazon that get flooded every year when the river bursts its banks. In just three months, there can be an amazing 9m of rain.

The flooded forests are incredibly diverse yet vulnerable environments, the organisers explained.

Deep curator Katy Duke said: “We are delighted that the animals have all settled in well and the tank is quickly becoming a real family favourite; especially since the arrival of the freshwater turtles from Bristol Zoo.

“We have seen a real increase in visitors wanting to see turtles and we think this is because of the new film that has recently been released. “People are really keen to see the animals in real life.”

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The exhibition – in what used to be the North Sea tank – is a new project being launched to tie in with the aquarium’s 10th anniversary.

Others include Living Rivers which opens at Easter and looks at the threats facing five of the world’s largest river systems.

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