February 28th 2020
Irukandji Shark & Ray Encounters has Acquired Land to Build our Brand New Facility & Construction has Begun!
The Pereira family have been working around the clock on the new build whilst running Irukandji at its current location in Bob’s Farm, while looking after their growing family to bring Port Stephens a new, incredible aquarium.
Our team have been working tirelessly 7 days a week to get things moving along and now that we’ve broken ground things are expected to progress really quickly.
Our LAST day open at our current location, 686 Marsh Rd Bobs Farm, will be 10th March, closing from 11th onwards to move our animals into the new centre!
We anticipate an opening in time for the Easter holidays!
Take a look at some of our construction progress, from building reef systems to setting up our big lagoon for feeding, patting and snorkelling with the animals!
The initial build of the new aquarium will be 33% percent bigger than the current building Irukandji is in, with a huge total of 562 000 litres of water, 130 000 litres more than what we have now! It will give our animals much more space to move around in, but also allow visitors to enjoy new experiences like snorkelling!
For more details on what is to come, head to our post here.
Remember to follow the progress by liking our Facebook page and signing up for our latest news through email. We’ll also be continuing to update the progress of the build on our website as well.
Now that we’re moving, we also have some great offers for you!
While we’re still here at 686 Marsh road, Bobs Farm we’ve got a special offer for anyone who visits us before we move. Have your photo taken with this face-in-the-hole sign, then share it on social media and you’ll get 25% off your first visit to the new venue!
And while you’re here why not grab a bargain on our souvenirs? We are offering 20% off everything in our souvenir shop from now until the move, plus 60% off selected items.
Come in and grab some gorgeous ocean-inspired gifts!
We are very excited for our move ahead, but the biggest part of that is moving our hundreds of animals of all different species! You’re probably thinking, how are you going to move your huge sharks and rays that weigh close to 200kgs?
Well while we are busy packing and cleaning and building, our animals need to get ready for the move as well. Our keepers spend any spare time getting our animals used to the nets that will be used to move them. The conditioning involves positive reinforcement surrounding the nets, so they see them as a safe and positive experience. This is a very important job as we need to make sure the transition for our animals is as stress free as possible. We’ve been doing this for a while now and will continue to up until the move, so the animals are as prepared as we are!
Speaking of our animals: it’s a girl!
This sweet little brown banded bamboo shark was born at the end of January.
We are all besotted with her!
While we get ready for the big move, we’re going to take a little break and relax with a Nigh of Comedy, because who doesn’t love a good laugh?
Sea Shelter will be hosting this fun event to raise funds at Soldiers Point Bowling Club on March 14th2020. For more information head to the Sea Shelter website, and to join us for a night of laughter book your ticket before they all sell out!
