Marine biologists of the future were entertained this week by a visit to the newly opened research aquarium at SAMS. Pre-school children from the Dunstaffnage Little Learners' Nursery were shown sea creatures common to the waters around Oban. Sea urchins from Loch Creran were gingerly handled, alongside wriggly ragworms and locally farmed mussels. The most entertaining organisms were undoubtedly the scallops, part of Dr Kim Last's experimental investigation of the shellfish's tolerance to burial beneath sediment.

The children watched as scallops flapped and swam around the tanks when shadows passed over them. Some shellfish even squirted out water as they were picked up. The visit was part of the nursery's ongoing programme of visits out into the local community with the pre-school children.