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Following 103 days of closure, on Saturday Bristol Aquarium opened its doors to welcome visitors once again and is pleased to report its re-opening went swimmingly!

After opening quietly the city centre attraction is ready to shout from the tank tops to welcome visitors to see the thousands of aquatic creatures that call Bristol Aquarium their home.

Fenia Vitali, General Manager at Bristol Aquarium commented, “We are delighted with how well the weekend went, we were all naturally apprehensive about re-opening but the smiling faces of visitors has made all our hard work worthwhile.

“I actually felt quite emotional when we welcomed the first few visitors; it’s been a bumpy road to get here but we’re thrilled to be open once again!”

From local residents and young families to annual members and fish enthusiasts, the site welcomes everyone safely. Visitors will observe enhanced cleaning, regular hand sanitising stations, increased signage and a one way journey through the aquarium. While the aquarium has reduced its capacity so visitors can observe social distancing, it is not practising pre-booked ticketing and has welcomed a manageable stream of visitors so far.”

Mark Iwachiw, Curator at Bristol Aquarium, explained, “The fish have missed having people to watch. The most inquisitive fish of the aquarium are our three Atlantic Wreckfish and Sheila the Giant Grouper – we haven’t been able to do anything without them swimming straight over to the glass to watch! Undoubtedly they’ll be enjoying having visitors to watch once again.”

To celebrate the successful weekend, the aquarium will be running a ticket giveaway on its social media this week to see how well followers can identify different species www.facebook.com/BristolAquarium.

Bristol Aquarium is open to the public 10am-5pm with last entry at 4pm 5days per week, closed Wednesdays and Thursdays. Tickets can be purchased online in advance at a discounted rate or simply purchased on arrival.  For full details and to read about our safety measures please visit www.bristolaquarium.co.uk or call 0117 929 8929.