Visitors to a Hampshire aquarium are being greeted by an eerily alien-like smiling face. People have likened the baby thornback ray's distinctive face to the 'Last Human' featured on Doctor Who. In the BBC series, the last surviving human was reduced to a stretched sheet of human skin with just a pair of eyes and a mouth. The semi-transparent thornback ray, only a month old and just 12cms in length, is part of a captive breeding programme at the Blue Reef Aquarium in Southsea. It is one of a dozen, hatched from egg-cases known as 'mermaid's purses', currently being looked after in a special nursery tank. When they are large enough, they will join the adult thornbacks and several sharks in a large pool. A Blue Reef spokesman said the babies are proving very popular with visitors. Ananova
