A SHARK mad eight-year-old has become the youngest person to dive with sharks at the Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire Oaks.
Jess Whitwam, from Halifax, took the plunge at the award-winning aquarium as part of a unique new diving initiative which has been launched for children in the UK.
For Jess, who goes to Northowram Primary School and has been fascinated by sharks since she was a toddler, it was a dream come true
“Ever since Jessica was little she has had shark cuddly toys, shark games and books on sharks,” said dad Chris, who is an experienced diver himself.
“Jessica knows a lot about sharks and can identify most of them. Her favourite one to draw is a six-gilled shark and her favourite cuddly shark is Hammer the hammerhead,” he added.
During her dive Jess came face to face with five species of sharks, including 1.5-metre-long black and white tips, two-metre-long zebra sharks, bamboo sharks and wobbegongs.
“I liked the zebra shark best because it was very friendly and funny swimming really close,” said Jess.
“I also really liked my instructors because they were kind and played games in the pool before the dive,” she added.
Prior to entering the water the youngsters are given full training by highly qualified PADI dive instructors and spend time in a training pool before going in with the sharks.
Blue Planet Aquarium’s dive officer, Kelly Timmins, said: “Jess was amazing and really knows her stuff when it comes to sharks.
“It was great to have such an enthusiastic and knowledgeable youngster and she thoroughly enjoyed her time underwater. Now she can’t wait to come back when she is a little older and dive with our three-metre-long sand tiger sharks,” she added.
Aquarium turns spotlight on real fish film stars
THE Blue Planet Aquarium, in Cheshire Oaks is putting the spotlight on the real life heroes and heroines of the marine world as part of their ‘Fishy Film Stars Weekend’.
Visitors will be able to come face to face with the living characters which have inspired films like ‘Finding Nemo’, ‘Shark Tale’ and ‘Little Mermaid’ as well as ‘Jaws’, ‘Arachnophobia’ and ‘Crocodile Dundee’.
This weekend, special talks and a trail around the aquarium will help identify the real stars of the show and give visitors the chance to learn all about the true stories behind their fictional namesakes.
Talks will be followed by feeding demonstrations for selected species.
Young visitors will be able to spot Bubbles, Dory, Nemo, Bloat the blowfish, Bob the seahorse and Jacques the cleaner shrimp on the trail as well as other characters like Sebastian from ‘Little Mermaid’ and Mister Sykes, Crazy Joe and Oscar from ‘Shark Tale’.
As well as being a fun way for youngsters to find their way around the aquarium, Blue Planet also hope it will inspire a greater interest in the marine world in general.
Blue Planet’s Paul Renolds said: “Finding Nemo and these other films have had a huge effect on our younger visitors.
“Everyone now knows what a clown fish looks like and is much more aware of the incredible variety of creatures found in the world’s oceans.
“We’re hoping to use the films’ enduring popularity as a springboard to get youngsters more interested in the marine world in general.
“When they see that Nemo and the other characters are actually based on real creatures it encourages them to relate much more closely to the other marine creatures we have here at the aquarium and also those living around our shores,” he added.