The Vancouver Aquarium is a public aquarium located in Stanley Park in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In addition to being a major tourist attraction for Vancouver, the aquarium is a centre for marine research, ocean literacy education, climate activism, conservation and marine animal rehabilitation.
The Vancouver Aquarium was one of the first facilities to incorporate professional naturalists into the galleries to interpret animal behaviours. Prior to this, at the London Zoo Fish House, naturalists James S. Bowerbank, Ray Lankester, David W. Mitchell and Philip H. Gosse (the creator of the word aquarium) had regularly held "open house" events, but the Vancouver Aquarium was the first to employ educational naturalists on a full-time basis. Aquarium research projects extend worldwide, and include marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation.
On August 9, 2010, Prime Minister Stephen Harper and B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell announced capital funding of up to $15 million. The province would donate $10 million in funding over the next three years to help pay for a planned expansion of the 54-year-old facility, Premier Gordon Campbell said. Harper added that Ottawa would hand over up to $5 million to the aquarium for infrastructure upgrades. The aquarium, however, remained a nonprofit organization. The property is owned by the City of Vancouver and rented to the aquarium for $40,000 a year since 1991 (prior to which it was $1 per year).
In October 2009 the Vancouver Aquarium was designated as a Coastal America Learning Center by the US Environmental Protection Agency. As the first Learning Center in Canada, this designation is intended to strengthen the Canadian/US partnership for protecting and restoring shared ocean resources.
On August 31, 2020, the nonprofit announced on Facebook that due to the financial stresses caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, it was pausing its public programming for the time being while it engages in strategic planning for the financial sustainability of its future operations. On April 15, 2021, the Aquarium announced that an agreement had been signed to transfer ownership from the Ocean Wise Conservation Association to Herschend Family Entertainment.
Aquarium history
The Vancouver Public Aquarium Association was formed in 1950 by UBC fisheries and oceanography professors Murray Newman, Carl Lietze and Wilbert Clemens. After receiving the help of timber baron H.R. MacMillan, alderman and businessman George Cunningham and $100,000 from each of the three levels of government. (City of Vancouver, Province of British Columbia, Federal Government of Canada), it opened on June 15, 1956, with the ribbon being cut by federal Minister of Fisheries James Sinclair. Sinclair's 7-year-old daughter Margaret was also present at the ribbon cutting ceremony (she would later marry Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and give birth to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau). In the mid-1960s, Rufus Gibbs donated $100,000 for an extension to the Vancouver Aquarium (specifically for the creation of the Rufus Gibbs Hall of sport fishes).
Officially Canada's first public aquarium, the Vancouver Aquarium has become the largest in Canada and one of the five largest in North America. The Vancouver Aquarium was the second aquarium in the world to capture and display an orca. Other whales and dolphins on display included belugas, narwhals and dolphins.
In 1975, the Vancouver Aquarium was the first aquarium accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA). The aquarium is also accredited by the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums (CAZA) and in 1987 was designated Canada's Pacific National Aquarium by the Canadian Federal Government.
On July 23, 1995, a beluga whale named Qila was born. She was the first beluga to be both conceived and born in a Canadian aquarium. A second calf, Tuvaq, was born on July 30, 2002, but died unexpectedly with no previous sign of illness on July 17, 2005.
In 1996, the Vancouver Park Board instituted a municipal bylaw that prevents the Vancouver Aquarium from capturing cetaceans from the wild for display purposes, and only obtain cetaceans from other facilities if they were born in captivity, captured before 1996 or were rescued and deemed un-releasable after this date.
On June 15, 2006, Canada Post issued a 51–cent domestic rate stamp to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the aquarium.
For many years, the primary attraction for visitors was the orca show. The aquarium was the second to capture a killer whale, Moby Doll, who was displayed for a day at Burrard Dry Dock on July 18, 1964. Subsequently, the public was kept away from him, however. Since then, it was home to Skana (at first called Walter), Hyak II, Finna, Bjossa, and three of Bjossa's calves. When Finna died and Bjossa was left without other orca companions, the aquarium attempted to acquire one or more female orcas from other marine parks. However, no suitable companions were found, and Bjossa was moved to SeaWorld, San Diego, in April 2001 where she later died due to a chronic respiratory illness. The aquarium has since moved to emphasize the educational aspects of the displays rather than the public spectacle of the shows. They have also highlighted their research, rescue and rehabilitation efforts.
The aquarium has played a significant role in the research of wild orcas in BC. John Ford, a respected researcher who focuses on orca vocalizations, worked there for many years. The Wild Killer Whale Adoption Program, which funds research was also run out of aquarium (now under Ocean Wise).
After considerable public discussion and some opposition from an animal rights group, the Vancouver Park Board voted in favour of a proposal to expand the aquarium at a cost of $100 million, funded by the aquarium, private donors, and infrastructure grants. A public consultation process, led by the aquarium and their own consultants, showed 89% of local residents were in favour of the expansion. The proposal will increase the size of the aquarium by and extend its lease by 20 years. Construction was expected to begin in the fall of 2007.
Vancouver Aquarium has not kept any orcas in captivity since 2001 and has pledged not to capture wild animals, but to instead rely on captive animals for breeding.
Temporary closure and sale On August 31, 2020, the Aquarium made public via a Facebook update that it would be temporarily pausing public programming after September 7. Despite the fact that the summer season was busy upon reopening, the social distancing requirements of being "COVID-safe" did not allow for the necessary visitor volume – ticket sales were down 80% and the not-for-profit was not able to cover costs. The organization stated that it would continue providing uninterrupted care to the resident animals while working on strategic planning; namely, how to operate in a way that would be financially sustainable in light of current conditions.
On April 15, 2021, the Aquarium announced that an agreement had been signed to transfer ownership from Ocean Wise to Herschend Family Entertainment. The aquarium reopened to the public on August 16, 2021.
Aquarium facility The aquarium covers approximately and has a total of water in 166 aquatic displays. There are a number of different galleries, several of which were built at different times throughout the aquarium's history.
Pacific Canada Pavilion This central indoor exhibit consists of a tank directly adjacent to the entrance. Fish and invertebrates from the Strait of Georgia are displayed in the exhibit.
Steller's Bay/Canada's Arctic Originally this gallery included the beluga whales along with several non-living displays. In October 2009, a new exhibit opened here displaying several other arctic species, including fishes and invertebrates, along with expanded non-living exhibits as part of the Canada's Arctic Gallery. In 2016, the two rescued harbour porpoises from the BC Sugar Pool next door, moved to the Canada's Arctic Gallery. Following the deaths of two belugas in 2016, it has been converted into an active Steller sea lion research station called Steller's Bay in collaboration with the University of British Columbia. The exhibit reopened as Steller's Bay on July 1, 2017, while still retaining the Canada's Arctic portion in the underwater gallery. It is home to four female and two male Steller sea lions. In June 2018, a new "Research Outpost" Exhibit opened as an addition to Steller's Bay and programs about the aquarium's research and work regarding walruses, northern fur seals, and Steller sea lions occur.
Penguin Point Inspired by Boulders Beach, this exhibit featured African penguins bred by the Species Survival Plan. Penguin Point was demolished in June 2023 to make way for a future habitat following the penguin’s relocation to the West Edmonton Mall in 2023
The Wild Coast This is an outdoor gallery that includes several pools, including the Marine Mammal Rescue exhibit in which several pinniped species (harbour seals, Steller's sea lions, and a California sea lion) are rotated in display. Sea otters are also permanently on display here, along with a "surge pool" where visitors are able to touch British Columbian invertebrates.
Treasures of the B.C. Coast This gallery is a series of separate exhibits that simulate the various aquatic environments on the BC coast. A giant pacific octopus, rockfish, sea stars, sea urchins, and anemones are among the animals here. In 2021, the Vancouver Aquarium opened the Marine Rescue Exhibit where visitors can meet ambassador animals from the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre.
Tropics Gallery
This gallery contains a large display of tropical fish and other animals, including blacktip reef sharks and a green sea turtle named Schoona. Schoona moved to Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto, Canada in January 2023.
Amazon Rainforest A number of freshwater fish, snakes, caimans, sloths, birds, and other creatures from the Amazon inhabit this gallery.
Frogs Forever? Gallery This gallery is an exhibit focused on the plight of the world's frog population which endeavours to show how people can help protect frogs and other amphibians. It contains 26 species of amphibians from around the world.
Canaccord Exploration Gallery This gallery is home to jellies, fish, and other animals. The 4D Theatre and the children's play area known as "Clownfish Cove" are here, along with multiple classrooms for school groups, including the wet lab education room, which contains both conventional teaching methods such as computers, tables, and chairs, along with live animals and various artifacts.
Interpreters The Vancouver Aquarium was the first aquarium to host a full time paid staff of interpreters. The Interpreter program began in 1967 and is now widely considered one of the most prestigious teams of its kind in the world.
The Interpreter team delivers animal programs to over 2000 guests every day, 365 days a year. These programs include animal talks about; Sea Lions, Seals, Sea Otters, Jellyfish and a whole range of other fish species present at the Aquarium.
Animals at the aquarium
The Vancouver Aquarium currently houses around 300 species of fish, almost 30,000 invertebrates, and 56 species of amphibians and reptiles. They also have around 60 mammals and birds.
Currently, the Aquarium no longer houses cetaceans, including Pacific white-sided dolphins. Previous individuals were: