The aquarium is notable for having many species of marine mammals, as there are Steller's sea lions, harbour seals, Pacific white-sided dolphins, sea otters, beluga whales and a solitary harbour porpoise in outdoor exhibits. All of those species have underwater viewing areas and they constitute the outdoor section of the aquarium. Indoors there are basically two large galleries as well as a main entrance area.
Even though there is nothing absolutely outstanding at the aquarium there are many very good exhibits and it is a solid establishment to visit. I'd probably rank it as the #6 aquarium in North America after Shedd, Georgia, Monterey Bay, National and Tennessee, and Vancouver occasionally advertises itself as the 5th largest aquarium on the continent but I have no idea how they reference that fact. (List of species? Gallons of water? Attendance? Etc...)
Hopefully in the future you could come back to Southern California and visit the Aquarium of the Pacific. I would like to know how it fits into your rankings.
Hopefully in the future you could come back to Southern California and visit the Aquarium of the Pacific. I would like to know how it fits into your rankings.
I'd love to do that! Maybe it would be even better than Vancouver, and from photos, meeting you and hearing about the Aquarium of the Pacific first-hand I'm sure that I'd really like it. One factor is that the A.O.T.P. is a fairly recent development, while Vancouver is over 50 years old and showing some wear and tear in places.
Vancouver Aquarium has more than 70,000 animals, including 300 species of fish, 230 species of invertebrates, 66 species of reptiles and amphibians, as well as a few birds and mammals. There are 9.5 million litres of water (2.5 million gallons) with the largest tank holding 2 million litres (530,000 gallons) for the beluga whales.
I see an exhibit here called "Frogs Forever", which I assume is a frog conservation exhibit? Is it a good exhibit? Does it leave you wanting to help save frogs?
I see an exhibit here called "Frogs Forever", which I assume is a frog conservation exhibit? Is it a good exhibit? Does it leave you wanting to help save frogs?
It is an excellent set of exhibits and there are between 20-25 different species of frogs, toads and salamanders. While not taking up a great deal of space, it often takes a long time to locate all of the tiny amphibians in their exhibits and thus there is joy found in attempting to actually see all of the animals on display. Conservation-themed graphics are dominant in this gallery, and there is even a terrarium with signage for a species that is already extinct! The lushly-planted exhibit always has someone standing in front of it attempting to spot the already extinct amphibian species.
