New chance to dive into Scotland’s marine habitats

December 19, 2019 | Scotland

One of the UK’s leading marine conservation and education charities, the Scottish Seabird Centre, is opening its newly refurbished visitor experience ahead of schedule on Saturday, 21 December.

It’s just in time for the Christmas break and the launch of Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters in 2020.

The Scottish Seabird Centre’s new Discovery Experience will virtually transport visitors of all ages, from the warmth and comfort of the visitor centre, deep into a variety of Scottish marine habitats, reinforcing the charity’s role to explore and communicate the wonders of these habitats and the challenges they face, including climate change, invasive non-native species and marine plastics.

The centre’s new mechanical exhibits, interactive games, virtual reality experience and storyboards have all been designed in partnership with the expert team from Glasgow Science Centre. The expanded themes focus on seabirds, marine habitats and wildlife, threats and scientific discovery.

As part of the refurbishment, the Scottish Seabird Centre has also fully upgraded the popular Bass Rock interactive cameras within the Discovery Experience, showing live action straight from the world’s largest northern gannet colony.

One of the first visitors lucky enough to preview the new-look Discovery Experience, Pamela Newby from North Berwick, who visited with family and friends aged 3 to 71, said: ‘It is fantastic to see the new look Scottish Seabird Centre, Discovery Experience. The children were all enthralled by the variety of new video games and puzzles. And it was absolutely amazing to be transported to Bass Rock to roam among the gannets, then swim through the ocean with whales and porpoises using virtual reality.’

‘It is great fun way to introduce children to our marine environment and teach them the importance of protecting it for generations to come.‘

Euan Innes (4) from Midlothian was an early visitor to the Scottish Seabird Centre at the Scottish Seabird Centre (Photo: Helen Pugh)

The development of the new Discovery Experience was part of a wider 18 month refurbishment of the Scottish Seabird Centre, which has also seen their café, retail space and Learning Hub transformed.

Susan Davies, CEO of the Scottish Seabird Centre, said: ‘Our refurbishment programme has been both exciting and challenging. We are thrilled with the overall refresh of all our exhibits as this strengthens our capability for telling the story of Scotland’s marine environment to diverse audiences. 2020 sees us celebrate both our 20th anniversary, and Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters, with a transformed visitor and educational experience.

‘Scotland’s marine environment is exceptional and diverse. There is a growing awareness of both its importance and the pressures it is under – not least from climate change, invasive species, underwater noise and marine pollution. Our seas provide vital natural services for society including climate regulation, food provision, renewable energy, scientific discovery and education opportunities. It is important that people are aware of its importance and the need to protect it and to use the resources it provides in a sustainable way.

‘We look forward to welcoming visitors back to the Centre. We hope we will inspire them to embrace the societal changes needed to ensure our marine environment remains healthy and wildlife-rich for generations to come.‘

The Discovery Experience reopens to the public on Saturday 21 December with a formal launch in January 2020 to coincide with the start of Scotland’s Year of Coasts and Waters – a year-long celebration of Scotland’s coasts, seas and waterways.

Check the website www.seabird.org for further details.