Stanley Park and Vancouver Aquarium

Whenever we go for a walk in Stanley Park I can't avoid to sneak in the Vancouver Aquarim and take a look at the beatiful beluga whales. Tiqa, Qila and Aurora are in the part of the aquarium that you can visit without paying! Tiqa is the baby beluga born in the summer of 2008, Quila her mother and Aurora is the grandmother, that is going to have another baby this summer!!! The beluga even have ther own webcam.


Captivity of animals, putting them in zoos or aquariums for humans to look at is something that I generally decline. Fortunately Canada doesn't allow beluga whales to be captured and exported any longer. Most beluga at the aquarium were born in captivity. Modern zoos and their staff more and more actually educate people on animals and the research is also useful to the wild relatives. According to the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre their mission is to conserve aquatic life through display and interpretation, education, research and direct action. Aquarium staff and Volunteers have been involved in the creation of Canada's first no-take marine protected area, beach clean-ups, wetlands restorations, wildlife rescue and rehabilitations, and population surveys of marine mammals and intertidal fishes. So its not all bad and one day I will also pay the entrance fee to see all the aquarium has to show and to have a full glance at those amazing animals!


There are also seals that you can look at. We saw a wild one in the harbour today just half a mile from the aquarium!