I was skimming back over the past few years checking out how the fall colours compared to this year, and I realized - two years ago tomorrow (when most of you will be reading this), we went to the Vancouver Aquarium with our grandson. Our daughter, son-in-law and 6 week old grand-daughter were there too, but our grandson definitely led the way, excited about everything he saw.
This is the famous sculpture 'Chief of the Undersea World', a killer whale, by the even more famous Haida sculptor Bill Reid. It stands at the entrance to the aquarium.
When I went back to check these photos, it appears that I never did post any in the blog. So I selected a few for tonight. Remember, in spite of the copyright, these were taken Oct. 5, 2015.
The touch tank was a favourite. When we travelled with our own young children, camping our way across the country, we encountered two touch tanks, one on each coast of Canada. I'm not sure anything else intrigued the kids so much.
A number of the most popular exhibits are in outdoor pools, here the barking Sea Lions. As you can imagine, our grandson was practically jumping up and down with excitement.
They have a large pool with Beluga Whales, and for children raised on the song 'Baby Beluga', it's the top attraction. This pool used to hold Killer Whales, and the aquarium was part of the controversy over whales being captured for public display. But it was also the first aquarium in the world to stop capturing of Cetaceans (whales), and the last Killer Whale left in 2001. It continues to be a major centre for research on Killer Whales.
You can read a bit about this on their website.
Inside there are quite a few tanks holding numerous fish on display, here a Sea Turtle and some tropical fish which I do not remember!
There's a small area of terrestrial displays to go along with the fish from the Amazon.
Check out this video of the amazing Jellyfish!
Be sure you click to get full size.
I'm well aware of the controversy over public marine aquariums. In my mind, after watching our own children here 30 years ago, and our grandson two years ago, the educational value of getting young people interested is well worth it. This is one of the most memorable places we have taken our own children, and our daughter is now taking hers.
Your photos do justice to the experience, FG.
ReplyDeleteThe birds, every shade could be together in a quilt, stolen from nature.
ReplyDeleteBeen to Vancouver when I had to work at UBC but did not get a chance to visit the Aquarium
ReplyDeleteThe best way to re-connect with the wonders of nature is to travel with children and try to see things through their eyes.
ReplyDeleteI do love the marine museums and like you said a great educational value in them, great photos.
ReplyDeleteHello, wonderful photos from your aquarium visit. It is fun going with the children, you see things thru their eyes. Happy Thursday, enjoy your day.
ReplyDeleteGreat pics, we visited that aquarium in 2011 with friends and their children. It was a fun day and educational for all of us.
ReplyDeleteI understand that the treatment of the animals is the most important issue. I hope these creatures are treated well. In any event, the pictures are fascinating. :-)
ReplyDeleteSuper video, absolutely beautiful. Although animals certainly did suffer in the zoos and aquariums of old, newer facilities with more natural habitats are different. Many, many natural resource professionals had their interest aroused by visits to zoos and/or aquariums -- where would we be without those dedicated people?
ReplyDeleteMy feeling is that if the animals are not made to do tricks- like at Marineland- a place like this has educational value.
ReplyDeleteI don't recall if you saw the plaster version of that Reid sculpture at the Museum of History here- it's on the level above the main entrance. And there's a topiary version of the sculpture as well here at MosaiCanada which I've already featured once, and will be doing so again in a series down the line.
My daughter took our 2 year old grandson to an aquarium and he was so much more excited about the fish than the animals that he saw at the zoo, but they also had things that children could do. Watching nature though his eyes is wonderful....Michelle
ReplyDeleteI love visiting marine aquariums and feel as you do that they serve an educational purpose. Great photos! Glad you found these and decided to post them.
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