Sea Life Manchester’s resident turtle couple are reportedly currently receiving ‘relationship counselling’ after going through a rocky patch during lockdown.
Turtles Cammy and Ernie – two of Sea Life Manchester’s star creatures – were first introduced to the Trafford Centre attraction back in August 2017 with the hopes that they would one day breed and the pair were said to have established an immediate bond back then, but now it’s looking like intervention was needed after the couple developed a lockdown rift.
Over the last 18 weeks, the turtles have found themselves in troubled water and have both displayed a clear change in behaviour.
Cammy is said to have been rejecting all of Ernie’s advances and has been nipping at him, which has left him with bite marks on the back of his neck – marks usually found on a female during mating. This also appears to have left Ernie behaving “over amorously” with the rocks inside their 500,000 litre ocean tank too.
Lockdown really has been tough for everyone then, it seems.
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Sea Life Manchester
Sea Life Manchester’s specialist creature welfare team have now waded in though with a series of measures to help reignite the turtles’ passion for one another.
Amongst the tactics being used by the team include socially distanced date nights, with the turtles’ favourite meal of Brussel sprouts, cauliflower and broccoli served at a distance to help prevent the duo from bickering, the introduction of more toys – including blocks of ice – to encourage play, and an increased number of enrichment techniques – including relaxing shell brushes – to assist in reducing tension levels.
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Brendan Malone – Senior Curator at Sea Life Manchester – said: “The change in Cammy and Ernie’s behaviour is quite significant,”
“When the pair were first introduced some three years ago, we had high hopes they would form a close bond. It is advised that all our female turtles are, where possible, kept with males to reduce the chance of them becoming egg bound.”
“Since lockdown commenced however, our expert creature welfare team, which has been in the aquarium daily caring for all our creatures’ needs, has noted a distinct change in activity including clear displays of standoff-ish behaviour from Cammy, and Ernie getting a little frisky with the rocks.”
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Sea Life Manchester
“There are a number of potential reasons for this as both creatures reach their sexual maturity, with the absence of visitors and guest interaction also believed to have contributed.”
“Cammy & Ernie are both big show-offs and love the attention they receive from guests. Recent weeks have however seen Cammy retreat with Ernie going from being her number one playmate and partner in crime to number one annoyance, not unlike some human relationships”.
“We’re pleased to share that as guests return to the attraction and interact with the two, we’re starting to see a return to normal behaviour and have high hopes they’ll rekindle their love [but] in the event this doesn’t happen however we will have to consider our wider options including a potential trial separation.”
Sea Life Manchester have confirmed that staff will continue to monitor the behaviour of Cammy and Ernie over the coming weeks.
You can find out more information about Cammy and Ernie via the Sea Life Manchester website here.
Trending
The best cheese tasting party in the North is BACK at a new Manchester venue
Danny Jones
That’s right, one of the biggest and best cheese tasting nights in the entire land is returning to Greater Manchester at a brand new city centre venue.
Not to be over-the-top, but this isn’t just another experience sampling possibly the greatest foodstuff on Earth, it’s a fully-fledged cheese-lovers’ party.
Some of you may have come across Homage2Fromage before, but for anyone unaware of the Yorkshire-born event, it started out as a monthly cheese tasting club and went on to expand across the dairy-adoring North at large.
Relaunching here in Manchester for 2026, all you lactose-intolerant people better watch, because Home2Fromage is coming back with a vengeance and heading to the Northern Quarter. Here’s how it went down the last time we visited one in Leeds:
Leeds, Sheffield, Harrogate, Manchester and who knows where else next.
Posting up in a relatively recent addition to NQ‘s bar and restaurant scene, The Faraday – a pub on Lever St that replaces the old Seven Sins back in October – it looks set to be an ideal venue for the regular evening series.
Homage2Fromage will be making its Manc return this month, and better still, they’re holding a cheeky little giveaway to sweeten the pot.
As in the deal, we mean – not the inevitable bowls full of olives, chutney, oil and various other dips…
To welcome this celebration of all things cheese coming back to Manchester city centre, they’re giving away a bunch of free tickets: 20 pairs in total.
Worth over £50 a piece for each twin set of tickets, you’d be a fool not to at least throw your hat in the ring for this one.
As you can see, the competition closes this Thursday, 19 February, ahead of the full relaunch party next week (Wed, 25 Feb), and all you have to do to enter is fill out this super quick survey.
It really is as simple as that; a few quick words are all that stand between you and a potential mountain of cheese and more.
You can find all you need to know about the event right HERE, and in case you haven’t popped into The Faraday just yet, see more down below.
It’s still somewhat early days, but we can see ourselves spending a fair bit of time in this up-and-coming Manchester watering hole, especially when there’s cheese nights involved.
Featured Images — The Manc Group/Publicity pictures (supplied)
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Mancs start crowdfunder for Mani mural in honour of late, great, local music legend
Danny Jones
A group of Manchester artists, audiophiles and residents have started a fundraiser to create a new mural in memory of the late, great local music legend, Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield.
Following The Stone Roses and Primal Scream bass player’s passing last year, the city and Greater Manchester as a whole have been finding ways to honour the Manc musician ever since.
Be it lining his funeral cortege from his home in Heaton Moor, Stockport, or peers like The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess penning heartfelt tributes, anyone and everyone has found their own way of paying their respects in the months since.
Taking the sustained sentiment even further, local art collective GRIT Studios is now planning to erect a massive mural in his memory.
We’re doing a massive mural for Manchester’s most loved son – Mani. All profits to @maggiesmanc a charity that was close to his heart.
Writing on the fundraising page’s description, GRIT say: “Inspired by Ian Brown’s eulogy to Mani at Manchester Cathedral, a major community crowdfunder is being launched to create a large-scale mural honouring the beloved bassist of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream and to raise funds for Maggie’s Manchester.
“The mural, which will be created in Failsworth, where young Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield grew up, has been initiated by the team at GRIT Studios following an overwhelming outpouring of love from fans across Greater Manchester and beyond.
“Mani’s brother, Greg Mounfield, is supporting this campaign and has facilitated a prominent, large wall space for the mural and chosen the design.
They go on to to explan that the piece “will be painted by the renowned artist Pic.One.Art, whose recent portrait of Noel and Liam Gallagher outside the iconic Sifters Records in Burnage became an instant landmark and received widespread attention.”
Speaking of Brown’s now viral speech, it still remains one of the most touching bits of public observance and shared mourning this city has ever seen – with a healthy little dose of Northern levity, of course.
@the.manc Yesterday, Manchester laid one of the city's greatest music legends, Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, to rest at Manchester Cathedral. 🍋 Fellow band member and life-long friend Ian Brown read out a speech as hundreds gathered outside the cathedral to pay their respects to The Stone Roses and Primal Scream bassist. Mani will be missed by many, and we send love to all his family and friends. ❤️ #manchester#mani#ianbrown#thestoneroses#stoneroses♬ original sound – The Manc
“Since Mani passed away in November, countless fans have expressed a desire to see a tribute in the place that shaped him in North Manchester”, they continue.
“GRIT Studios, the not-for-profit art studios organisation, has stepped forward to organise a community-led, crowdfunded project that celebrates Mani’s life, music and spirit.
“It will not only fund the creation of the mural, but all profits will go to Maggie’s Manchester, which was close to Mani and his wife Imelda’s hearts during her cancer treatment and for whom they fundraised.
With a target of £10,000 set and more than £6k already raised in just a matter of days, it looks to be a matter of when, not if, we’ll see Mani immortalised in paint, on brick and with typical Manc grit over in the borough of Oldham.
For anyone who wishes to contribute to the fast-growing Mani mural crowdfunder, you can do so HERE.
Emily Sergeant -
13th August 2020 
