The net is closing in on brazen thieves who pinched a beloved six-foot mackerel statue from St Andrew’s Aquarium.

The eye-catching model – nicknamed Big Mac – has stood guard outside the popular Fife visitor attraction for the last four years.

However, Aquarium staff noticed something fishy was afoot following last Friday’s graduation festivities when Big Mac wasn’t in his usual spot.

John Mace, Managing Director of St Andrews Aquarium, commented:
“Big Mac went missing from outside the Aquarium overnight on Friday, June 29 and he was last seen heading in the direction of the Town Centre.

“He’s quite heavy and it would probably have taken two or three people to lift him. Staff are gutted by his disappearance and we would love to have him back home. Any information leading to his recovery would be gratefully received.”

John has now launched an appeal to see the statue safely returned, promising that it will be “no questions asked” if Big Mac makes his way home. Fife Police have been informed.

Visitors to St Andrew’s Aquarium this Easter will be the first to experience a brand-new exhibition highlighting the wonders of native marine species.

Extensive refurbishment work has taken place over the winter months to create Cold Water Wonders, an engaging new zone packed with fascinating information about native sea life which will open for the Easter holidays.

A unique highlight of the new display is the shark and ray hatchery, which explores the life cycle of the ‘mermaid’s purse’ and allows visitors to watch the baby sharks and rays develop in their transparent eggs before they hatch.

The new exhibit provides more space for the European spiny lobster, turbot, pollock, Atlantic cod and European bass, with two large new tanks for jellyfish and octopus. The impact of plastic on marine life is also examined, with helpful tips on how to reduce this harmful pollution.

Cold Water Wonders is the latest transformation in an ongoing programme of investment that has already seen the Aquarium develop The Reef, refurbish Penguin Cove and launch The Amazing Amazon last year.

John Mace, Managing Director at St Andrews Aquarium, commented on the completion of the new area:

“The development of the Cold Water Wonders has been another significant addition to St Andrews Aquarium and we’re looking forward to hearing feedback from our Easter visitors. We’re continually refurbishing our venue to ensure that our visitors get the very best experience.”

Additional work has been completed throughout the Aquarium and even the most regular of visitors will see lots of new exhibits, including two large additions to The Amazing Amazon -Chinese Water Dragons and Terrapins.

St Andrews Aquarium is open 7 days a week from 10:00am – 6:00pm, with last entry at 5pm.

Humboldt Penguins from St Andrews Aquarium’s Penguin are the real-life inspiration behind a colony of colourful giant penguins, set to invade Dundee and its surrounding landscape next summer as part of a Wild in Art fundraising event by Maggie’s Dundee.

St. Andrews Aquarium have signed up to sponsor one of the 100 penguins, which will be decorated with unique designs by local artists.

The tactile Maggie’s penguin sculpture mould was designed by artist and Senior Lecturer at Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art, Janice Aitken after researching penguins at St Andrew’s Aquarium and a penguin specimen at the University of Dundee’s D’Arcy Thomson Museum.

Maggie’s Penguin Parade hopes to be an important fundraising initiative to support the important work of the Maggie’s Centre in Dundee. The trail of individually decorated penguin sculptures will bring together businesses, schools, community groups and creative artists in a series of events culminating in a free and accessible public art trail.

One of eight Scottish multi-award winning, architect-designed centre’s Maggie’s Dundee provides a warm and welcoming place, with qualified professionals on hand to offer free practical and emotional support for people undergoing cancer treatment, and their loved ones.

“Maggie’s Centre is a fantastic charity that delivers an incredibly important service, and knowing that our colony of Humboldt penguins were the creative inspiration for the sculpture, it is only right that we should get involved,” said John Mace, Managing Director of St Andrew’s Aquarium.

St Andrews Aquarium have welcomed one of the world’s most famous and recognisable frogs, the red-eyed tree frog, to its newest area, the Amazing Amazon.

The frogs, which are native to Central and South America, were used in the promotional material for David Attenborough’s latest series ‘Planet Earth II’. The iconic rainforest amphibians have a neon-green body with yellow and blue stripes, webbed orange feet and bulging red eyes, which are used to shock predators and give them a precious moment to dart to safety.

Joining them in the newly opened Amazing Amazon zone are White’s green tree frogs and poison dart frogs, to complete the trio of frog species visitors at St Andrews Aquarium.

John Mace, Managing Director at St Andrews Aquarium, commented on the newest additions:

“The Red-Eyed Tree Frog is one of the most recognisable rainforest frogs and so it seemed only fitting to welcome them to our new Amazon exhibition, where they’ll be in good company with our other species of frogs. We’re sure they will have visitors darting down to St Andrews Aquarium to catch a glimpse of the exciting new additions.”

Five fun facts about the red-eyed tree frog:
1. When red-eyed tree frogs first turn into adult frogs, they are brown with yellow eyes.
2. As with most frogs, females grow larger than males. Adult males are only about 5 cm in length while the females tend to be larger at 7.5 cm.
3. These crafty amphibians have very strong suction cup toe pads and can defy gravity and cling to leaves, sticks, and even glass.
4. They are night time eaters who catch flies, crickets, moths and grasshoppers with their long, sticky tongue. They’ve even been known to eat smaller frogs!
5. The eggs of red-eyed tree frogs can hatch early if they are disturbed by a predator approaching. The eggs can even tell between a genuine threat and a normal disturbance such as heavy rain or wind.

St Andrews Aquarium worked with one of the UK’s leading theming companies on the four-month refurbishment to transport visitors to the Amazing Amazon and also features hundreds of thousands of leaf-cutter ants in an open exhibition.

Staff at St Andrews Aquarium are waiting patiently to see if the resident Humboldt penguins will welcome some special new additions over the Easter break.

The waddle of penguins at the Fife-based Aquarium have laid two eggs, which staff are closely monitoring in the hopes they’ll successfully hatch. The average incubation period is around 42 days.

Humboldt’s are medium-sized penguins and are around 60cm in height and around 4-5kg in weight. Originating from South America, their numbers have been in steady decline over the past decade due to over fishing, habitat destruction and climate change.

John Mace, Managing Director of St Andrews Aquarium, commented:

“Everybody here at St Andrew’s Aquarium has their fingers crossed that we’ll be welcoming some new additions into Penguins Cove within the next couple of weeks. This is the first time the penguins have incubated their eggs themselves, so this change of behaviour is a positive sign.

“Whilst everybody is enjoying their chocolate eggs, we’ll be sure to be keeping a close eye on our special Easter delivery.”

The penguins have been settling into their new surroundings after a redevelopment of the enclosure by one of the UK’s leading aquarium theming companies. ‘Penguin’s Cove’ is the latest in a wave of refurbishments for St Andrews Aquarium.

Last Spring, they opened ‘The Reef’, after enlisting the help of leading European aquarium company Aquarium Technology Ltd to reproduce the look of tropical waters using replica corals and imitation rocks, with displays that create the feel of walking through a reef. This Easter, they opened the new ‘Amazing Amazon’ zone, complete with an impressive ant display and one of Scotland’s largest amazon fish tanks.