THIS magnificent nurse shark is among more than 1,000 live fish settling into a new life in the Westcountry after being flown more than 4,000 miles from their native home in the Caribbean.

The fish are now getting used to their new surroundings at the National Marine Aquarium in Plymouth. The aquarium chartered a Boeing 767 to import the 42-tonne shipment, which is believed to be the biggest-ever consignment of marine exhibits bought into the UK, from an aquarium in Barbados.

The £100,000 trip saw the fish flown to Exeter Airport, where the cargo was loaded on to lorries and driven to Plymouth under police escort.

Paul Cox, head of science and learning at the NMA said: "It was a tremendous feat to pull off in the end and will hopefully attract many more visitors after they go on display."

But there was one hairy moment the other side of the ocean when the plane got held up for six hours on the tarmac in Barbados.

John Crouch, from the NMA, said: "The team were worried about the welfare of the fish but James Wright and Paul Cox were the heroes who saved the day by working so hard to keep changing the oxygen in the fish tanks throughout the flight – it was a stressful task but they all arrived safely." One of the divers was also bitten by a shark.

Along with seven 4ft nurse sharks, 10 rays, each with a span of about 5ft, as well as barracudas, the 18-plus species of fish flew in specially built tanks, landing at Exeter Airport on Sunday evening.

The precious load was then taken to Plymouth where staff worked throughout the night stabilising 19 tanks, checking water temperatures and water quality.

The transfer of the fish into their new homes then took the team another six hours to achieve.

The new sea creatures will now remain in quarantine at the NMA before going on display to the public on October 20.