How would the aquatic creatures of SEA LIFE stack up in the sporting arena?

We’ve been cheering on our favourite Aussie athletes on TV, which had us thinking: how would the aquatic animals of SEA LIFE go in the sporting arena?

From crowd favourites including penguins and sharks, to unsung heroes of SEA LIFE – our incredible creatures have incredible sporting talents that would make them a contender in many sports!

Archery

Archer Fish – Did you know that Archerfish shoot a jet of water at their prey and almost always hit their targets at first shot. They can reach their targets from as far as 5 meters away!

Discus

Discus Fish - Did you know the sport ‘discus’ is named after the Discus Fish for its round, compressed and disc like body?

Equestrian

Seahorses - Did you know that Seahorses use their tails to hold themselves still and maintain their upright position indefinitely!

Gymnastics

Octopus - It’s easy to be flexible when you have no bones! Octopuses are invertebrates which means they do not have a spine or bones and can contort their bodies into the most amazing flexible positions and spaces.

High Jump

Seals - In order to avoid predators, seals are capable of jumping up to 4 meters out of the water to reach safety.

Long Jump

Frogs – The record for the world’s longest long jump is just under 9 meters – and the long jump record for a frog is just over 6m. Based on the average length of a frog being 8cm long, that’s 82 times its length!

Marathon

Sharks - Grey Reef Sharks must constantly move forward to pull water through their gills to help them breathe – this means they cannot stop swimming! Phew!

Swimming

Green Sea Turtles - Green Sea Turtles have been known to swim up to 2000km from nesting to feeding grounds yearly. That’s 200 x 10km marathons – or the equivalent of swimming from Sydney to Wellington!

Swimming

Gentoo Penguins - The winner of the fastest underwater swimming bird in the world award, goes to the Gentoo Penguins, who can swim at speeds up to 40km/h.

Synchronised Swimming

Grey Nurse Shark- For perfect synchronicity you need perfect buoyancy – and the Grey Nurse Shark has just that! Grey Nurse Sharks can swallow air from the water’s surface to regulate their buoyancy.

Walking

Spotted Handfish – Not all aquatic creatures swim, some can walk! The rare Spotted Handfish appears to walk along the ocean floor using its pectoral fins.

Weight Lifting

Pinjarra the Saltwater Crocodile - What weighs almost three times as much as the weight lifted by the current world record holding weight lifter? That would be SEA LIFE Melbourne Aquarium’s Saltwater Crocodile Pinjarra, who weighs in at 750kg!