Almost 100 fish are tasting freedom in the Irish Sea after years of being part of a tourist attraction in county Down.

The fish have been released from the Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry because of refurbishment work.

The open sea tank is one of the most popular exhibits at Portaferry and 80 fish are on the move while it is drained, repaired and cleaned.

Technical Manager at Exploris Julian Whitehead said actually catching the fish during the two day operation had, at times, been a nightmare.

He said: "Some of the fish are quite dim and are easy to catch.

"They were caught in the first hour or two. But the ones left now are the bright ones.

"They're faster and much more intelligent. They're getting quite difficult."

Many of the fish have been in the aquarium since it opened in 1994.

Marketing Manager of Exploris, Sue Moore said: "It has been a bit chaotic with fish going everywhere. But we're nearly at the end for releasing them now.

"We're going to restock with some new fish and we've kept some of the smaller and more unusual fish to put back into the tanks.

The fish, all species found in the Irish Sea, have been released into Strangford Lough.