A popular north-east visitor attraction is marking its 25th anniversary this Easter.
Macduff Marine Aquarium has lined up a host of activities to mark the occasion.
A Silver Splash gala will be held on April 9 and 10, with a range of family-friendly activities organised for both inside and outside the aquarium.
Over the years, the aquarium’s focus has been to promote awareness and enjoyment of local sea life.
In keeping with this, the weekend activities will include a “Sea-habilitation” tent with various talks on how to conserve our natural heritage.
Visitors will also be asked to help create a seawall mosaic, with the chance to take part in a fish art and silver stones trail.
There will also be a shark-themed egg hunt around the grounds.
Blue Planet cameraman to share his stories
Inside the aquarium there will be shows by local magicians, and the aquarium’s own Cedric the flapper skate will be taking centre stage in some Doric storytelling sessions. These will be supported with British Sign Language interpreters.
Wildlife cameraman Doug Allan, patron of Friends of the Macduff Marine Aquarium, will also be in attendance to chat to visitors about his experiences filming series like the BBC’s Blue Planet and Planet Earth. He will be doing illustrated talks on the evenings of April 8 and 9.
BBC Scotland Out of Doors presenters Euan McIlwraith and Mark Stephen will be at the aquarium on April 10 to meet visitors and tell some of their own adventures.
The ever-popular dive show will be back too, and other shows throughout the weekend will look back at the aquarium’s story.
Aquarium has gone from ‘strength to strength’
Aquarium manager Claire Matthews said: “I can’t believe the aquarium is already 25.
“There has been much water through the tanks since then – we have seen around 1.25 million visitors through our doors, have won awards, featured on TV, managed a complete renovation of our central exhibit and looked after lots of fishy characters.
“Over this time, the aquarium has gone from strength to strength and many brilliant people have worked with passion and enthusiasm to make the aquarium such a popular and enduring attraction in our town. We hope lots of folk come to ‘shell-ebrate’ with us at our Silver Splash gala – it’s shaping up to be a ‘fin-tastic’ programme.”
The gala will run from 11am to 5pm on both days.
All outside activities will be free as part of the Live Life Aberdeenshire Spring into Easter programme.
Normal entry prices will apply to visit the aquarium. Storytelling, dive shows and presentations in the theatre are included in the aquarium entry price but tickets are required.
Tickets for Mr Allan’s presentations will be on sale at £10 and can be booked here.