There’s no space for dessert at SEA LIFE London Aquarium today, as the attraction’s green sea turtles, Boris and Dougie, and its bale of terrapins were spotted tucking into a colourful ‘pizza’ fit for a reptilian superhero.
Inspired by the New York style pizzas enjoyed by everyone’s favourite crime-fighting reptilians, the aquarists at SEA LIFE London Aquarium created a delicious watermelon pizza topped with figs, grapes, and a sprinkle of shrimp, which the fun-loving creatures enjoyed as part of their ongoing enrichment programme. Through this and similar activities, the team aims to replicate real life situations and increase mental simulation to encourage the animals’ natural behaviours including foraging for food and hunting.
Delivered in a specially designed SEA LIFE London Aquarium Pizza delivery box, Boris and Dougie were thrilled to get their jaws around the juicy pizza. The pair made sure there were no leftovers as they swam around their Ocean Tank habitat at the famous South Bank attraction, surrounded by fellow residents Zebby the Zebra Shark and Football the Pufferfish.
Meanwhile, over at the terrapin exhibit, the aquarists couldn’t put the box down fast enough as the whole bale were scrambling to get their hands on a slice!
But that’s not the only turtley awesome action that’s happening at SEA LIFE London Aquarium this summer. The attraction is also hosting a brand-new turtles and terrapin summer activity where guests will have the opportunity to get up close to the attraction’s real-life reptiles whilst also learning important conservation lessons from SEA LIFE London Aquarium’s expert team such as ways to reduce plastic usage and limit littering.
Speaking of today’s pizza inspired enrichment activity, General Manager Catherine Pritchard said: “After turtle fever hit cinemas, we were keen to bring a bit of pizza power into the creatures’ enrichment programmes and give a delicious treat to our own real-life turtle superheroes. We made our pizza from fruits and vegetables that are part of Boris and Dougie and the terrapins’ normal diets, which included all foods they would look to forage for in the wild.
“We can’t wait for guests to meet our shelly friends this summer and are inviting everyone to come along to join us and find out more about these beautiful creatures.”
SEA LIFE cares for more than 160,000 animals and over 4,000 different species at our centres around the world. Our teams look after ethical sourcing, scientific research, rehoming and rescues, and breeding programmes. Every year, they breed more than 3,500 animals, rescue around 200 seals and turtles, and release more than 150 animals into the wild. The teams’ work has a positive long-term impact on the conservation of threatened species.
SEA LIFE London Aquarium, situated on the South Bank, is open seven days a week. For the latest opening times, feeding times, prices and more see www.visitsealife.com/london
