Roots

The original idea for the building was an oyster hatchery. Built in 1971, and opened by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Phillip. The plan was to breed oysters and then sell them to oyster growers who would then farm them in the Menai Strait and elsewhere until they were ready to be eaten. This was part of an effort to revitalise the shellfish industry in Britain, as during the 1800s, shellfish like oysters were viewed as cheap and accessible food for the masses. Despite their efforts, due to technical and managerial problems, along with the fact that the general public were not as keen as they once were to have shellfish regularly in their diet.

The site was then converted into a large lobster storage tank for a company of lobster exporters. Huge amounts of lobsters were sent to countries like France, with aircraft being chartered simply to fly with lobsters for Christmas. This however did not last, as the area was quickly overfished and the market declined.

The Aquarium

In 1983, the site was bought by David and Alison Lea-Wilson, who first intended to use the site for supplying their own seafood company, Mona Seafoods. However, due to large public interest in the lobsters, crabs, and seafood being held here, the aquarium was opened where it remains open today. Then, six years after the purchase in 1989, a pilot ‘rear and release’ programme was set up to support the local lobster populations. The Sea Zoo worked with local fisherman who donated berried female lobsters. The adult females hatched their eggs here and the larvae was reared for around a year before being released. Since then, over 3,000 juvenile lobsters have been released! Following the success of Anglesey Sea Zoo, Anglesey Sea Salt was opened by David and Alison Lea-Wilson in 1997, which led to the sale of Anglesey Sea Zoo in 2007 to environmental researchers.  This marked a shift for Anglesey Sea Zoo towards more conservation and research programmes, with our current owner, Frankie Hobro becoming sole owner and director in 2013. Since then, multiple animal releases have happened, helping to combat dwindling species number in the Menai Strait. You can read more about our conservation programmes here. In 2016, our first sea turtle, Menai, was rescued. Despite being 10 years on from this, she is still the only Olive Ridley recorded in the UK. Menai was then repatriated to a rescue centre in Gran Canaria, Spain. Since then, we have had three turtles, with the Sea Zoo being the only aquarium in the UK to succesfully rehabilitate a Kemp’s Ridley sea turtle.