Divers clean a replica plane in aquarium tank

A replica aircraft inside an aquarium's shark tank is to be given an annual deep clean.

The National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth has new underwater cleaning equipment to keep the exhibit from getting too covered in algae.

Previously the plane was "superficially cleaned" by divers as part of a twice-weekly operation to maintain the Atlantic Ocean exhibit.

Divers would clean the aircraft for about 45 minutes per week until it was complete and it would take approximately 10 hours to fully deep clean the plane, the National Marine Aquarium said.

It added it would take two to three of deep cleaning on a yearly basis to maintain it, the deep clean was completed.

The model aircraft, a replica of the Walrus L2312 seaplane, was added in 2010 to mark the 70th anniversary of the plane's departure from Plymouth on 18 June 1940, for a secret mission to the north coast of France.

The National Marine Aquarium said the installation served as a tribute to the Plymouth-based RAF crew who lost their lives during the mission.

Xavier Stow, lead marine biologist at the National Marine Aquarium, said: "One of the things with artificial reefs is that you know you leave them and over time life starts to build and grow on it.

"But, within an aquarium environment, we tend to just get a bit more of the dirt and the waste from the fish and it accumulates over time."

"So, yeah, we recently have been trialling some new tools, some electric tools, that are a bit more precise... with using those we're able to clean the plane without putting too much elbow grease into it."

He added it was an old plane and, the more it was scrubbed, the more it was likely move and break.

"This is sort of something that I've been trying to start, which is... just bringing it back to a state where it does stand out a lot more," he said.

Mr Stow added: "Every time we do do something new, fish and sharks are really naturally inquisitive, so you know there are a few fish in there that are kind of swimming past and being like: 'What's this?'

"Cleaning is enriching their lives and it's something different in their day but actually that plane being a different colour will have had some effect on their behaviour... maybe raise some fish's eyebrows."

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