Interactive Rockpool

Touch. Feel. Discover. If you’ve ever wondered what lives in the rockpools around our coast, this is the place to find out. Get really close to the wonderful creatures that live on our shores.

Everything in our Touch Pool is safe to handle... and our rockpool experts are on hand to show you how!

Things to Do

Touch a crab
Touch a live sea star
Spot the shelled creatures
Learn all about limpets (and everything else) from our Education staff

Hermit crabs live in colonies up to 100 or more
Sea stars have no brains and no blood. Their nervous system is spread through their arms and their “blood” is actually filtered sea water
Limpets use a tongue like structure called a radula to scrape their food
Sea cucumbers move the substrate on the bottom of the ocean just like earthworms turn the soil on land
If it is touched by a sea star, the abalone will quickly twist its shell and escape from this predator!

Fishy facts 1 of 3