On my day as a helper at the London Aquarium, one of the interesting activities I participated in was feeding the ray pools, which are the open pools near the start of the aquarium containing all manner of flatfish, crabs and rays. Taking a delectable tray of calamari, raw fish, freeze dried prawns and other seafood goodies, the staff, Monica (my guide for the day), and I went about the pools making sure all of the animals were fed. Under the direction of the staff I selected the correct creatures and gave them food with the use of a long stick and some well timed throws.

Above I am feeding the juvenile tank, where the adolescent rays are kept after they are old enough to come out of the private tanks in the back of the aquarium. There are a selection of Undulated and Thornback Rays in the ray pools, and we used smaller pieces of fish and squid for these younger ones. In the wild they would act the same way any adult ray did, but for the sake of safety the aquarium places them separate to the larger crabs of the adult pool. The more confident rays came to the surface to receive their food, and would often snatch food away from the shyer animals, meaning I had to make sure those rays got food while the others weren’t looking. It was difficult to time, since they did not always eat the food immediately, but between myself and the staff, every ray got some food.

In the larger ray pool, there were some animals other than rays to feed, such as the aptly named Herbert, who was a Turbot, and a large slow moving Edible Crab. Turbots camouflage is perfect for the sandy sea bed, a mixture of pale yellows and white, only identifiable by the twin eyes poking out from under the sand. Flatfishes eyes start on different sides of their heads when they are born, but as they develop, the eye on the bottom side rise through the head to the other side, since they do not see on the face down side. The crab was slow to move, and I had to dangle the squid and prawns in front of his face before he would try to eat them. Fighting back other hungry rays, I would hold it in front of him, waiting for his soporific claw to close around the food.

It was incredible fun to feed these animals, and I was amazed to be working so closely with such  incredible creatures. I hope to work with animals like this again in the future, and recommend it utterly to all who are considering such opportunities.