What it's like to work at Birmingham's Sea Life Centre

For James McElroy every working day is a chance to marvel at the creatures that live above and beneath the surface.

As an aquarist at the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham, it is his job to care for everything from penguins to electric eels and axolotls.

He is responsible for maintaining their living environments and ensuring that, whether they are shoals of colourful fish, magnificent sharks or Asian short clawed otters, they are all looked after and content.

The work includes maintaining all public and behind-the-scenes areas as well as playing a part in the development of the displays area

Helping visitors of all ages to understand more about these intriguing creatures is also an important aspect of the role for James.

"It is very satisfying work because we are educating visitors about the animals.

"It is always a really interesting job and there is never a dull day because they are animals so they are always doing different things," said James, who has been working as an aquarist at the aquarium in Brindleyplace for the past three months.

Around 60 staff work at the centre and James is part of attraction's display team working behind the scenes on the site's 11 themed zones covering everything from the coast to the ocean depths.

As part of his job, he could be asked to work with any of the more than 2,000 creatures found in the centre's 60-plus displays of freshwater and marine life but he tends to be mostly based in the rainforest area.

This is home to many creatures, including piranhas, eels and poison dart frogs as well as the 360-degree ocean tunnel, which helps to give visitors a closer look at what's going on under the sea.

It's a role that he says he is very varied as he could be asked to turn his attention to anything from ensuring the animals have everything they need to thrive to repairing their displays around the site, which attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

"I start at 8am and I find out where I am going to be working. It might be with the penguins or doing the feeds or doing the maintenance on the pumps and filters on the displays," explains James, who studied marine biology at Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge.

"Marine biology can involve a lot of theory but this is a really hands-on job," he says, adding that there is no typical day because each day's work will depend very much on the needs of the animals.

Also among the 23-year-old's varied duties is feeding the attraction's 40-year-old giant green sea turtle Molokai, who is known as Mo.

At just over 20 stone and almost five foot long, it is easy to see where the species gets its name from and Mo loves nothing more than chomping down meals of broccoli and lettuce for breakfast, dinner and tea.

Recently his diet had to include kale due to the shortage of some types of greens in southern Europe caused by poor growing conditions due to a combination of flooding, cold weather and poor light levels.

But the veteran turtle, who is described as being 'very set in his ways', didn't seem to mind the change to the menu and was quite happy with his substitute vegetables.

James says he enjoys feeding the turtle, who has an appetite to match his size, adding: "Some days he is more hungry than others. He is such a big creature and so impressive."

His favourite residents at the aquarium are Asian short clawed otter couple Mango and Starsky, who are always popular with visitors as many love to seek them out as soon as they arrive.

The playful otters have certainly won James over since he started working at the aquarium. "I like the otters because they have really cute personalities," he says.

James, who lives in Birmingham, said one of the highlights of his work so far has been a project which could mean staff might be hearing the patter of tiny feet soon.

Last year, the resident Gentoo penguins welcomed a new colony of 12, who migrated all the way from Calgary in Canada, as well as new six male and three female arrivals who relocated from Billund, Denmark.

The team have been working to ensure the waddling birds, known for their unmistakable trumpeting sound and quirky antics, are comfortable for breeding in their icy home.

So far the signs are good, spelling a bright future for the penguins, which are classified as near-threatened on the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List.

"We have been setting up nests for our penguins and we are starting to see some new couples emerging, which could mean will be having some baby chicks, which would be great," says James.

By Heather Large