Four baby seahorses will make a splash into their parents lives as they move into the adult display tank at Macduff Marine Aquarium this weekend.
Having been kept in an off-exhibit nursery tank this is the first time the young spiny seahorses will greet the public.
It’s also the first time they will meet their mother and be reunited with their father since their birth.
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Staff at the aquarium have worked hard to keep the fry – the collective term for baby seahorses – alive since they came into the world.
They have only a one-in-2,000 chance of survival after birth and the north-east attraction is one of the few UK institutions that has managed to raise fry to the seven month mark.
Aquarium displays officer Chris Rowe said: “The youngsters are happily feeding on nutritious brine shrimp and are now accustomed to taking the same food on the menu for their parents.
“We’re confident they are ready at last to go out on public display.
“It has been a new experience for us, and a steep learning curve, but we’re chuffed to bits to have succeeded with these little guys.
“We will wait and see if Dad gets pregnant again this spring, and if we’ll have a chance to do it all again.”
The joyous reunion coincides with the launch of the Aberdeenshire Council’s Live Love Aberdeenshire, the renamed Sports and Culture Services now being run as a unique business.
As part of the Live Life Aberdeenshire weekend, adults can get a free admission voucher from www.livelifeaberdeenshire.org.uk and visit the fry as they join their parents this Saturday.