5/5 獨孤明 3 years ago on Google
The
Vancouver
Aquarium
(an
initiative
of
Ocean
Wise
Conservation
Association)
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,
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,
remains
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/U.S.
partnership
for
protecting
and
restoring
shared
ocean
resources.
On
August
31,
2020,
the
non-profit
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.
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
daughter
7-year-old
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).
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
first
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.