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Susan Lazaruk
CREDIT: Gerry Kahrmann, The Province
Friday, October 07, 2005

Bigger whale and dolphin pools planned at aquarium

Vancouver Aquarium president John Nightingale points out new facilities currently under construction for the aquarium.

The Vancouver Aquarium has announced long-term plans that include updated technology, more hands-on learning programs and bigger pools for whales and dolphins.

The proposed changes, which have to be approved by the Vancouver parks board, come in addition to the new Discovery Education Centre, which is under construction in Stanley Park next to the aquarium.

The new programs will focus on conservation and be interactive.

"There will be new tangible ways ordinary people can get off the sofa and be part of the solution [for conservation] and not part of the problem," aquarium president John Nightingale told The Province.

Nightingale said the aquarium, which marks its 50th anniversary next year, wants to improve on programs for future children and grandchildren.

He said that featuring marine mammals is the best way to engage the public in marine life, and the aquarium plans to keep whales and dolphins that are not captured in the wild as part of the displays.

Parks board commissioner Loretta Woodcock opposes the aquarium's whale and dolphin programs because "the message it sends to a young child is [that the mammals are] born in aquariums and [the children learn] that's their natural environment."

Annelise Sorg of the Coalition for No Whales in Captivity said that her group is urging the aquarium to phase out the whales and dolphins over 20 years and that it opposes the expansion of the pools. It has called for a referendum in this fall's municipal election.

The parks board and the aquarium -- which says a 2002 phone poll showed that two-thirds of Greater Vancouverites support having marine mammals in the aquarium -- oppose the idea. slazaruk@png.canwest.com

© The Vancouver Province 2005
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Letters | Send a letter to the editor

Cancel whale exhibit
Vancouver Province
October 12, 2005

I am writing to voice my displeasure at the expansion of live mammal exhibits at the Vancouver Aquarium.

The first time I visited the aquarium as a child, I was struck by how depressing it was to see the magnificent whales floating around a tiny pool and entertaining people for food.

I admire the aquarium's mammal rescue programs, but it should phase out the whale exhibits.

Teresa Jones,

Delta
© The Vancouver Province 2005