Penguins - The Deep - Hull - Yorkshire

http://www.aboutnottinghamshire.co.uk/
This was my second visit to 'The Deep' an amazing aquarium attraction in Hull (see previous blog).  Now I wanted to see the newly arrived penguins!

There are five of them, four males named Michael Angelo, Donatello, Leonardo and Raphael.  The female is Fiona.  They have all come from the Moody Gardens Zoo in Texas.

Their special exhibit area has cost £750,000 and is the only location in the north of England where you can see these creatures.  It covers three floors and features a swimming pool, diving pool, beach area, nesting area, and apparently an outdoor balcony with views overlooking the River Humber, although I never found this!
The exhibit is built to look like Grytviken, an abandoned whaling port in South Georgia, Antarctica.  It was taken over by Gentoo penguins in the last 1960s following the demise of the whaling industry, and has been very well done.

However, I was a bit disappointed that the viewing windows were quite small, and there were such vast crowds.  Admittedly I had gone on a Saturday, between 12 and 2, but it was a case of queuing to get everywhere - even to get inside despite having pre-booked tickets.  I then queued to see the penguins in both locations and of course the toilets!

After I'd seen the penguins I wanted to go back to see the divers at work cleaning the glass and feeding the fish in the Lagoon of Light, which is a really amazing area.  However, it did seem that the only way to get there was to go against the crowd, and fight my way back upstairs to this area. Then it would have been better if the amplification on the girl's mic had been better and we could have actually heard what she said, as I'm sure that would have been really interesting.


By now I was ready for a much needed cuppa, but again it did seem that the only way back to the cafe in the entrance was to retrace my steps and again fight against the crowds, which did seem somewhat less than satisfactory.


Generally this is the most amazing place with excellent exhibits, clear information boards, and easy walkways.

I would just suggest that you don't visit during peak times or school holidays!