I spent 3 hours at the Vancouver Aquarium today, and it was my first visit in two years. There was a lot of information on the upcoming $80 million expansion/renovation, but it has all been previously posted by me on this thread. There is a pregnant, and rather bloated, beluga whale, who is one of 4 of those beautiful mammals at the aquarium. If the pregnancy is a success then the baby (due in either July or August) will mean that there will be 3 generations of belugas in the same tank. There are also 4 pacific white-sided dolphins, 4 sea otters, 3 harbour seals and a massive steller sea lion in the outside exhibits. All of those exhibits feature underwater viewing, which is naturally very popular. My wife and I sat and watched the 20 minute dolphin show, as well as the 20 minute beluga whale talk. Since the last visit, the aquarium has opened a handful of small exhibits: a common and a pygmy marmoset are together in a small enclosure, there are at least 100 small bats in a darkened exhibit, and an entire hallway is packed with tanks upon tanks of amphibians. This section of the aquarium is very well done, and they are advertising the plight of frogs and newts around the world. There are 26 species of amphibians, with probably 22 of those species being frogs. I'll visit in another two years, after the expansion of the outside whale, otter, seal and dolphin pools. That is scheduled to be completed by late 2009.
Thanks for that Snow Leopard... I've been planning an American West Coast zoo and aquarium tour (in my minds eye) for a while starting at San Diego --> LA --> Sacremento --> Monterey --> San Fran --> Oregon --> Seattle... I guess I may just have to add --> Vancouver at the end...
It's a whale of a baby! - Yahoo! Canada News Baby belgua at the Vancouver Aquarium. Third generation captive beluga whale.
