The Scottish SEA LIFE Sanctuary in Oban on the west coast of Scotland, has unveiled Seal Encounters this year – an exciting opportunity to learn about the rescue, rehabilitation and release of seals back into the wild. See them playing through our underwater observation areas. Meet our resident seals and find out how they found a home at the Sanctuary.
Meet our Otters
Meet our new resident North American Otters. Marvel at the playful antics of these endearing animals and find out about the latest conservation efforts to help all otters. The North American Otters were once the most widespread mammal on that continent, but as with other species pollution, habitat loss and road deaths has confined them to a fraction of their original range.
The Sanctuary’s resident common seals, its North American otters Fingal and Sula, its diverse aquarium displays and its breathtaking setting on the banks of Loch Creran make a wonderful place to visit.
Informative talks and feeding presentations throughout the day provide a deeper insight into all of our fascinating creatures and how you can help to protect their future. Enjoy a woodland walk or relax in our themed restaurant to round off your day.
Scotland’s leading marine conservation experience has something for everyone.
Always present are the two resident common seals - Lorne and Gigha. The grace and elegance of these enchanting mammals can be viewed in the Underwater Seal Observatory.
All this and much much more is undercover and outside in our extensive forest grounds we have a children's play area - can you stay on the trim trail; plus nature trails and a new forest walk.
To round off the trip why not visit the beautifully situated shoreline restaurant to enjoy a snack or a full meal from our range of homebaked fayre and treat yourself to a present to remind you of your day from the Sealife gift shop. Altogether it makes for a great day out.
There is a dazzling array of multi-dimensional aquarium displays housing everything from shrimps and starfish to sharks and stingrays.
Almost all of the hundreds of sea creatures featured can be found beneath the lochs of the West Highlands or in the adjacent Atlantic.
The diversity is breathtaking. People emerge genuinely awed by the range and variety of our native marine fauna.
Perhaps the highlight of this journey through the wondrous world beneath the waves is the herring ring, a unique doughnut-shaped display tank with a central viewing platform.
Visitors are dizzied by the shimmering sight of a large shoal of silvery herring swimming in never-ending circles. It was once calculated that they travel - in an average lifetime - more than the distance to the moon and back!
A large waist-high pool is home to a number of species of rays, all of them apparently as intrigued about their human admirers as the humans are about them, nosing the surface to stare them straight in the eye.
Meet some of the tough nuts of the seas in an exciting new feature - Claws! Included in the feature is a fantastic collection of Giant Japanese Spider Crabs, whose width can span over three metres.
Some of the claws you will see are:-
Common Lobsters
Edible Crabs
Giant Japanese Spider Crabs
Horseshoe Crabs
Mantis Shrimps
Spiny Lobsters
Opened in 2002, a spacious and spectacular Otter sanctuary with underwater viewing, allowing you to witness their graceful swimming up close. Fingal and Sula, the Sanctuary’s new residents, refugees from an overcrowded colony at an Essex wildlife park, will help raise awareness of conservation efforts on behalf of those native otters.
The new facility with its own holt, deep diving pool, streams and shallower pools has plenty to keep the two Otters occupied.
Opening Times:
From March to October we are now open from 10:00-17:00 with last admission at 16:00.
please check with the centre for winter closing times, as these may vary.
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