A group of salmon took a somewhat shaky journey to freedom this week from their temporary home at the New Zealand Marine Studies Centre.
Assisted by 20 school pupils from the centre's gifted and talented programme, the 400 fish which had been on display in a viewing tank, were put in to buckets by senior aquarist Matthew Crane and carried outside and down paths to Otago Harbour.
Centre curator Adelle O'Neill said the salmon came from the hatchery at Sawyers Bay, courtesy of the Dunedin Community Salmon Trust, and "looked brilliant" on display.
"The public are so interested in salmon.
They love getting out on the harbour and catching them," she said.
While those released this week were some way off eating size, they would soon provide plenty of action for keen anglers.
