Celebrate Shark Week at Sea Life

Shark Week

Shark Week is coming up – and the Sea Life London Aquarium to looking to challenge age-old misconceptions of sharks as cold-blooded killers.

The South Bank aquarium is hosting a collection of miniature animal sculptures made from naturally discarded teeth from their resident sharks to kick off half-term activities.

The installation is the work of miniature sculpture artist Hedley Wiggan, who has crafted seven ‘hero’ animals from shark teeth, shed naturally by the attraction’s sharks every day.

The launch kicks off two weeks of shark-focused activities, in partnership with the Shark Trust, planned to educate guests on the growing dangers sharks face in the wild, from overfishing to finning and habitat destruction which all seriously impact on global shark populations.

“When the London Aquarium approached me I was excited to have the opportunity to sculpt with such an unusual material,” said Bolton based artist Hedley. “I’ve created people from pencil leads and fairies from cocktail sticks, but shark teeth are very delicate so a real challenge. I’m pleased with the end results and hope the sculptures help to change people’s perceptions.”

“We work tirelessly to educate our guests on the plight of these much maligned animals, and want to do so in the most interesting and engaging environment possible,” said the London Aquarium’s Conservation and Education Manager, Rebecca Carter. “We hope people will enjoy the beautiful sculptures but take away an important message with them – if action isn’t taken now we stand to lose some of the oldest and most spectacular creatures in the sea.”

*The exhibition is on display from February 14 to March 1, and features sculptures of a Giant Green sea turtle, a seahorse, a Cow-nosed ray, an octopus, a Gentoo penguin a tropical Yellow Tang fish and a Brown shark.

There are shark feeds on February 17, 18, 21, 24, 26 and 28 for those interested.

See visitsealife.com/london

Top Ten Shark facts:

* Sharks as a species are more than 400million years old, meaning they pre-date dinosaurs.

* NOAA Fisheries report that over an estimated 100 million sharks are killed each year.

* Dr Ronald O’ Dor, senior scientist at the Census of Marine life, informed scientists at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in San Diego that shocking research by Professor Barbara Block shows there are fewer Great Whites left in the ocean than there are Tigers on the Earth.

* Sharks never get cancer, and may hold the secret to the cure.

* A shark’s sense of smell is so good, they can detect one drop of blood in an Olympic sized swimming pool.

* Lightning is more dangerous than Sharks. More people die from lightning strikes each year than die from being attacked by a shark.

* A wasp is more dangerous than a shark. There are approximately 100 shark attacks on humans worldwide per year. Only five – 15 of these cases result in death. It is estimated 100 people die a year from an adverse reaction to a wasp sting.

* The average shark swims at 20-40 miles per hour, but a Mako Shark has been recorded at more than 60 miles per hour.

* The Whale Shark is the biggest fish living in our oceans

* Puffer Fish are immune to becoming shark bait – sharks cannot eat them because the Puffer can blow up in their mouths and prick them with their spiny needles.