Suncor Energy Fluvarium facts for kids
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| Date opened | November 1990 |
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| Location | St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada |
| Website | www.fluvarium.ca |
The Suncor Energy Fluvarium (or just The Fluvarium) is a cool place in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. It's an education center where you can learn all about the environment. A group called the Quidi Vidi/Rennie's River Development Foundation runs it.
Downstairs, you can look through nine big windows right into Nagle's Hill Brook! It's like being underwater with the brown trout and salmon in their real home. The Fluvarium also has many aquariums and terrariums. These tanks show off different kinds of fish and amphibians. All these animals live in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Contents
Discovering the Fluvarium's History
The Quidi Vidi/Rennie's River Development Foundation (QVRRDF) started in 1985. It's a non-profit group that helps the environment. People who cared about nature formed it. They wanted to protect and improve Rennie's River. This river flows through St. John's into Quidi Vidi Lake.
The QVRRDF first aimed to clean up the polluted Rennie's River. They also wanted to build a walking trail along its path. They did many projects to clean the river. This included making the riverbanks stronger and restoring nature. They even built a special fish ladder to help fish move.
Since then, over 7.5 kilometers of walking trails have been built. These trails include boardwalks and lookout spots. You can find them along Rennie's River and around Quidi Vidi Lake.
In 1985, the group got permission to build an education center. It would be at Long Pond. This center would have a special "stream tank." It would let visitors see the river from underwater. They could watch trout lay their eggs!
By 1987, the QVRRDF started teaching school kids about the environment. Their programs helped children understand river ecosystems better. The foundation spent most of 1988 getting money to build The Fluvarium. In June 1988, Prince Edward helped start the building work.
The Fluvarium opened to the public in November 1990. Its main goal was to teach people, especially kids, about watersheds. A watershed is an area of land where all the water drains into one place. They wanted to show how important it is to keep them clean. The Princess Anne officially opened it on July 2, 1991.
Exploring the Fluvarium's Exhibits
The Fluvarium has exciting exhibits to help you learn.
Water: Past, Present, and Future
On the second floor, you can see Nagle's Hill Brook. This area has many exhibits about freshwater environments. You can find interactive displays about water itself. There are also exhibits on glaciations (ice ages), wetlands (swampy areas), and riparian zones (areas along rivers). You can even learn about water monitoring.
The Underwater Fluvarium Experience
The main Fluvarium level has nine large windows. These windows give you an amazing view right into Nagle's Hill Brook. This brook is a small stream that flows into Rennie's River. It starts about 3 kilometers north of The Fluvarium. The brook was moved so it flows past these "windows on a stream." This lets visitors explore river life and its ecosystem.
The windows let you see different parts of a river. You can see deep pools, shallow pools, and riffle areas (fast-moving, shallow water). Most of the fish you'll see are brown trout. These fish were brought to Newfoundland in 1884. Fish can swim in and out of this section using a special fish ladder. In the fall, you might even see brown trout building their nests (redds) and spawning (laying eggs) in the riffle areas.
The center also has many aquariums. These tanks get their water from Nagle's Hill Brook. They are home to different freshwater fish and amphibians from Newfoundland and Labrador. You can see Atlantic salmon, American eels, Arctic char, wood frogs, and green frogs.
Fluvarium Partnerships and Programs
The Fluvarium works with other groups on important projects.
Research Projects
The QVRRDF started its first research project at The Fluvarium in March 1992. They studied how to make rainbow trout flesh more colorful. They worked with the Newfoundland and Labrador Institute of Fisheries and Marine Technology.
From 1995 to 2002, The Fluvarium helped with a program to bring back Atlantic salmon. They worked with the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Salmon eggs were kept at the Fluvarium. Each year, about 8,000 young salmon were released into the Rennie's, Waterford, and Virginia Rivers.
In 1999, salmon were found in a fish trap at Quidi Vidi Lake. People thought these were from the first young salmon released in 1995. These were the first salmon seen in these rivers since the 1930s!
Salmon Education Program
The Suncor Energy Fluvarium still helps with Atlantic salmon. They work with the Atlantic Salmon Federation's Fish/Friends program. Every spring, The Fluvarium gives about 1,600 salmon eggs to schools. The schools raise the eggs in special classroom incubators. Later in the spring, the classes visit The Fluvarium. They release their young salmon into Nagle's Hill Brook.
The Annual Duck Race
The Annual Rennie's River Duck Race is a fun event. It helps the Quidi Vidi / Rennie's River Development Foundation raise money. This money supports their environmental work.
This race has been a yearly tradition since 1988. Many people come to watch it along Rennie's River. Up to 2,500 yellow rubber ducks are "sponsored" and then released into the river. They float through the city to the finish line. The first three ducks to cross the line win prizes for the people who sponsored them!
Images for kids
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Entrance to The Suncor Energy Fluvarium
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Green frog (Lithobates clamitans)
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Green frog (Lithobates clamitans) tadpole
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American toad (Bufo americanus)
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Brown trout (Salmo trutta)
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Threespine stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus)
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Fluvarium fossil
