The Ray Reef

Did you know sharks feel like sandpaper? That’s because they not only have teeth in their mouth but even on their skin. Rays and other fish, on the other hand, are actually quite slippery. Do you dare touch them? The Dolfinarium is the only place where you can pet rays, sharks and other fish from the North Sea. Sink your own teeth into the aquatic world of sharks and rays in our Ray Reef – and you won’t even need a diving certificate for that! You also get to feed them during the educational presentation by the caretakers of these animals. Watch out for your fingers though…

You can taste and smell the sea in the Ray Reef and learn all about the animals that live in our own North Sea. For example, do you know where a starfish’s mouth is? Or did you know the male seahorse is the one that carries the eggs? Come over and do exciting experiments in the Ray Reef’s North Sea laboratory as you learn all about unusual fish species, sea anemones, starfish and seahorses swimming in the North Sea. Or marvel at the fish and rays swimming around in the larger aquariums at Zomerhotel and Winterhotel.

The Shark Bay can be found next to the Ray Reef

The Shark Bay can be found right towards the back of the Ray Reef. Have a look at the eggs of various sharks and rays and discover the oldest shark species in the world! Sharks even swam in the sea when dinosaurs were still roaming the land… Yes, that was a very long, long time ago.

But they are not doing so well: a quarter of all shark and ray species are on the verge of extinction. In fact, a number of species have already disappeared from our own North Sea. An incredible shame! Did you know that some animals are threatened by certain types of fishery or pollution? One of the things we do to help the animals is by putting the eggs of rays back into the wild straight from the Dolfinarium. But you can help these animals, too! How you can help them? You’ll find out at the Shark Bay.