SHARKS and stingrays have arrived in Dandenong, but their keepers assure us it is safe to go into the water.

In fact, they say it's safe to pat, hand feed and even nurse these much-maligned creatures.

Last Friday, Australian Shark and Ray Centre officially opened an aquarium of more than 400 sharks and rays in Dandenong South. There is another centre in Port Stephens, NSW.

Director Andrew Tindale said children and adults could don waterproof pants or a wetsuit and join almost 20 species of sharks and stingrays.

He said the creatures had a "bad rap", although that was largely media-driven. "The fear is irrational. You're more likely to be killed by a bee than a shark. You're three times more likely to drown than be taken by a shark."

He said unlike their reputations, sharks were "very timid and wary of people".

"The common feeling is shark attacks are often a case of mistaken identity. Most bites are a single bite, so it's not like they want to eat people.

"They tend to happen in poor light or when people are bait-fishing and the shark can't tell what it's biting."

To be on the safe side, there are no great white sharks in the tank. The biggest is a three-metre tawny nurse.

As for the stingrays, they are "close to being dog-smart," Mr Tindale said. "They're very tactile. They like to come up to people even if they don't have food."

It can take months or years to train them to take food from a stick or to lie on a person's lap, as the Port Stephens centre's 350-kilogram ray does.

There are two topping 300 kilograms at the Dandenong centre who also like a cuddle. The fiddler rays have a penchant for sucking on people's toes.

Mr Tindale started working at the National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra, handling sharks and rays behind the scenes. Then he thought 'why not share the experience with the public?'.

He boasts that the centres are the only two of their kind in the world where people can feed sharks and rays. It's just a matter of people overcoming initial nervousness.

"Most people are a bit dubious - but once they get in the water, they can't stop raving about it. Until you do it, you don't know how good it is."

Details: ozsharkandray.com.au or 8759 0069.