Vancouver Aquarium facts for kids
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| Date opened | June 15, 1956 |
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| Location | 845 Avison Way Vancouver, British Columbia V6G 3E2 |
| Land area | 2.1 acres (0.85 ha) |
| Coordinates | 49°18′02″N 123°07′52″W / 49.300586°N 123.131053°W |
| No. of animals | 58,000 |
| Total volume of tanks | 9,500,000 litres (2,100,000 imp gal; 2,500,000 US gal) |
| Memberships | AZA, CAZA, WAZA, AMMPA |
The Vancouver Aquarium is a public aquarium located in Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is a popular place for tourists to visit in Vancouver. The aquarium is also a special center for studying marine life, teaching people about the ocean, protecting animals, and helping sick or injured marine animals get better.
The Vancouver Aquarium was one of the first places to have experts called naturalists working in the exhibits. These naturalists helped visitors understand animal behaviors. Before this, other zoos had similar events, but the Vancouver Aquarium was the first to hire naturalists full-time to teach people. The aquarium's research projects happen all over the world. They include rescuing and helping marine mammals.
In 2010, the Canadian government and the province of British Columbia announced they would give the aquarium up to $15 million for upgrades and expansion. The aquarium is a nonprofit organization, meaning it uses its money to help animals and educate people, not to make a profit. The City of Vancouver owns the land and rents it to the aquarium.
In 2009, the Vancouver Aquarium was named a Coastal America Learning Center by the US Environmental Protection Agency. This was the first time a Canadian center received this honor. It helps Canada and the U.S. work together to protect our shared oceans.
In 2020, the aquarium temporarily closed its public programs because of money problems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 15, 2021, the aquarium announced that a new company, Herschend Family Entertainment, would take over its ownership from Ocean Wise.
Contents
History of the Vancouver Aquarium
The Vancouver Public Aquarium Association started in 1950. It was created by professors from the UBC who studied fish and oceans. With help from a businessman named H.R. MacMillan and money from different levels of government, the aquarium opened on June 15, 1956. A government minister, James Sinclair, cut the ribbon. His 7-year-old daughter, Margaret, was also there. She later married Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and became the mother of current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The Vancouver Aquarium was officially Canada's first public aquarium. It has grown to be the largest in Canada and one of the five biggest in North America. The Vancouver Aquarium was also the first aquarium in the world to bring in and show an orca. Other whales and dolphins that have been displayed here include belugas, narwhals, and dolphins.
In 1975, the Vancouver Aquarium was the first aquarium to be approved by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). It is also approved by the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA). In 1987, the Canadian government named it Canada's Pacific National Aquarium.
On July 23, 1995, a beluga whale named Qila was born at the aquarium. She was the first beluga to be both conceived and born in a Canadian aquarium.
In 1996, the Vancouver Park Board made a rule. This rule stops the Vancouver Aquarium from catching cetaceans (whales and dolphins) from the wild to display them. Now, they can only get cetaceans from other facilities if they were born in captivity, were caught before 1996, or were rescued and cannot be released back into the wild.
On June 15, 2006, Canada Post made a special stamp to celebrate the aquarium's 50th birthday.
For many years, the most popular attraction was the orca show. The aquarium was the first to capture and display a killer whale, named Moby Doll, in 1964. After Moby Doll, other orcas like Skana, Hyak II, Finna, and Bjossa lived there. When Finna died and Bjossa was alone, the aquarium tried to find other orca friends for her. They couldn't find any, so Bjossa moved to SeaWorld, San Diego, in 2001. She later passed away from a breathing problem. Since then, the aquarium has focused more on teaching people about animals and less on shows. They also highlight their important research and rescue work.
The aquarium has done a lot of important research on wild orcas in British Columbia. They help fund studies about orca sounds and run a program that helps fund research by allowing people to "adopt" wild killer whales.
After a lot of public discussion, the Vancouver Park Board agreed to a plan to make the aquarium bigger. This expansion would cost $100 million and be paid for by the aquarium, private donations, and government grants. The plan would make the aquarium 1.5 acres larger and extend its lease for 20 more years.
The Vancouver Aquarium has not kept any orcas since 2001. They have promised not to catch wild animals. Instead, they will rely on animals born in captivity for their displays and breeding programs.
Temporary Closure and New Ownership
On August 31, 2020, the aquarium announced it would temporarily stop its public programs after September 7. Even though the summer was busy after reopening, social distancing rules meant fewer visitors. Ticket sales dropped by 80%, and the non-profit organization could not cover its costs. The aquarium said it would keep caring for its animals and work on a plan to be financially stable for the future.
On April 15, 2021, the aquarium announced that Herschend Family Entertainment would take over its ownership from Ocean Wise.
Aquarium Facilities and Exhibits
The aquarium covers about 9,000 square meters (97,000 sq ft) and has 9.5 million liters (2.5 million US gallons) of water in 166 different exhibits. There are many different galleries, which were built at various times.
Pacific Canada Pavilion
This is a large indoor exhibit right next to the entrance. It has a 260,000-liter (69,000 US gallon) tank. You can see fish and invertebrates (animals without backbones) from the Strait of Georgia here.
Steller's Bay and Canada's Arctic
This area used to have beluga whales. In 2009, a new exhibit opened here, showing other arctic animals like fish and invertebrates. After two belugas passed away in 2016, this area became a research station called Steller's Bay. Scientists from the University of British Columbia study Steller sea lions here. It reopened in 2017 and is home to six Steller sea lions. A "Research Outpost" also opened in 2018, where you can learn about the aquarium's research on walruses, northern fur seals, and Steller sea lions.
Penguin Point
This exhibit looks like Boulders Beach in South Africa. It features African penguins that were born in special breeding programs.
The Wild Coast
This is an outdoor area with several pools. It is home to a Pacific white-sided dolphin and sea otters. There's also a "touchpool" where you can gently touch British Columbian invertebrates. Other animals like harbour seals, Steller's sea lions, and a California sea lion are sometimes displayed here. When they are not in this gallery, they live in behind-the-scenes habitats or in Steller's Bay.
Treasures of the BC Coast
This gallery has many separate exhibits that show different water environments along the British Columbia coast. You can see octopuses, rockfish, sea stars, sea urchins, and anemones here.
Tropic Zone
This gallery has a large display of tropical fish and other animals. You can see blacktip reef sharks and a green sea turtle named Schoona here.
Amazon Rainforest
This gallery is home to many freshwater fish, snakes, caimans, sloths, birds, and other creatures from the Amazon.
Frogs Forever? Gallery
This exhibit focuses on the problems facing the world's frog population. It teaches visitors how they can help protect frogs and other amphibians. It has 26 different species of amphibians from around the world.
Canaccord Exploration Gallery
This gallery is home to jellies, fish, and other animals. It also has a 4D Theatre and a children's play area called "Clownfish Cove." There are also classrooms for school groups, including a "wet lab" where students can learn with live animals and artifacts.
Animals at the Aquarium
The Vancouver Aquarium currently has about 300 types of fish, nearly 30,000 invertebrates, and 56 kinds of amphibians and reptiles. They also care for about 60 mammals and birds.
Currently, the aquarium has one Pacific white-sided dolphin:
- Helen is a female dolphin, about 30 years old. She came to the aquarium from Japan and was rescued after getting caught in a fishing net. Helen is part of a project to understand how whales use sound to find things. This research helps prevent whales from getting caught in fishing nets. You can tell Helen apart because her front fins are partly missing due to her injury.
The aquarium used to have a false killer whale:
- Chester was a young false killer whale rescued in 2014. In 2015, it was decided he couldn't be released back into the wild because he was too young when rescued and had too much contact with humans. Chester lived with Helen in the Wild Coast habitat. He passed away in 2017 from a bacterial infection.
Until 2016, the aquarium also had two beluga whales. Qila was born at the aquarium, and Aurora was rescued from the wild in 1990.
- Aurora was a female beluga who gave birth to Qila, Tuvaq, and Nala. Nala passed away in 2010. Aurora passed away in 2016 at about 30 years old. She was the last beluga at the aquarium.
- Qila was a female beluga born at the aquarium in 1995. She was the first beluga conceived and born in a Canadian aquarium. Qila passed away in 2016.
The aquarium is home to seven sea otters:
- Katmai is a young female sea otter rescued in Alaska in 2012. She was only a few weeks old. After being cared for by experts, she came to the Vancouver Aquarium in 2013.
- Rialto is a male pup found abandoned in Washington state. He was moved to the Vancouver Aquarium in 2016 because the Seattle Aquarium didn't have space for another male sea otter.
- Mak is a male sea otter pup brought from Alaska in 2016. He was found stranded and couldn't be released back into the wild.
- Kunik is a female sea otter pup also transferred from Alaska in 2016. She was found stranded and couldn't be released. Her name means "kiss" in Inuktitut.
- Hardy is a male sea otter pup rescued in British Columbia in 2017. He is the only Canadian sea otter at the aquarium.
- Tazlina is a female sea otter pup rescued in Alaska in 2019 when she was only a day old. She moved to the aquarium in 2019.
- Joey is a male sea otter rescued in British Columbia in 2020. He was about 10 days old and is now a permanent resident at the aquarium.
The aquarium is also home to three harbor seals: two males named DaVinci and Hermes, and one female named Jessica Seal. Jessica Seal was rescued in 2019 after being shot and blinded.
The aquarium also has six northern fur seals and seven Steller sea lions. Some of the sea lions are part of a research program with the University of British Columbia. This program studies why the Steller sea lion population in Alaska is decreasing. One sea lion, Bella Bella, was rescued as a pup in 2017 and cannot be released.
The aquarium also has an adult male California sea lion named Señor Cinco. He was found with gunshot wounds in 2017 and is now blind. He is the first California sea lion on display at the aquarium.
The aquarium has one green sea turtle named Schoona. Schoona is 16 years old and arrived at the aquarium in 2005.
Giselle is a zebra shark who arrived at the Vancouver Aquarium around 2008. She is about 15 years old.
Mammals at the Aquarium
| Species | Status | Population at the aquarium |
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| Sea otters | Endangered | 7 |
| Steller sea lion | Near threatened | 7 |
| California sea lion | Least concern | 1 |
| Harbor seal | Least concern | 3 |
| Goeldi's monkey | Vulnerable | 7 |
| Pacific white-sided dolphin | Least concern | 1 |
| Northern fur seal | Vulnerable | 6 |
| Linnaeus's two-toed sloth | Least concern | 2 |
Conservation and Research Programs
The Vancouver Aquarium has many programs to help understand and protect animal species in the wild.
Ocean Wise Seafood
The Vancouver Aquarium runs a program called Ocean Wise Seafood. This program encourages restaurants, markets, and other food places to offer seafood that is caught in a way that doesn't harm the ocean or other animals. Ocean Wise works with food companies to choose seafood that is good for the environment. They use the Ocean Wise symbol on menus and displays to help people make smart choices when buying seafood. Over 300 restaurants and food stores in Canada are part of this program.
Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup
The Great Canadian Shoreline Cleanup started at the Vancouver Aquarium in 1994. A small group of staff and volunteers decided to help clean up local beaches. This program is part of a bigger international effort to remove trash from beaches and waterways around the world.
Volunteers collect and sort garbage, which is then studied to find out where the trash comes from. This helps change behaviors that cause pollution in the ocean. For example, in 2007, over 52,000 volunteers cleaned more than 1,700 kilometers of beaches, collecting almost 87.5 metric tons of garbage.
Marine Mammal Rescue and Rehabilitation Program
The Vancouver Aquarium has a Marine Mammal Rescue program. Its goal is to rescue and help marine mammals that are injured, sick, or abandoned. They care for these animals until they can be released back into their natural homes. On average, the Rescue Centre helps about 100 distressed marine mammals each year. Most of these are harbour seals, but they also help sea otters, elephant seals, Steller sea lions, harbour porpoises, and common dolphins. This program famously helped rescue Springer, an orphaned killer whale who was successfully reunited with her family. Other important rescues include helping a beached grey whale back into the water in 2005 and rescuing Schoona, a lost green sea turtle.
B.C. Cetacean Sightings Network
The B.C. Cetacean Sightings Network is a program run by the Vancouver Aquarium and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans Canada. It collects reports and sightings of whales and sea turtles in the wild. This network has over 1,800 people across British Columbia who report sightings. These include whale watching guides, lighthouse keepers, boat captains, and local residents. People can report sightings through the program's website, a phone hotline, email, or special logbooks.
Images for kids
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Actinodiscus in an exhibit
See also
In Spanish: Acuario de Vancouver para niños
