Beluga whale showing the tail flukes, at Vancouver Aquarium - photo Todd Wong
It seems strange to take friends from Alaska to go see beluga whales at the Vancouver Aquarium - but that is what we did. My girlfriend's cousin was visiting Vancouver with her son, so off to the Aquarium we went. Sue and Harrison call Anchorage Alaska home. We put a special Alaskan context on our personally guided tour and introduced them to the sea otters that came from Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. We showed them the displays highlighting the sea life from nearby Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands).
Harrison watching the beluga whales at Vancouver Aquarium, under water viewing gallery - photo Todd Wong
I have always loved visiting the aquarium since I was a small child in the 1960's. My father would take us even before Skanna the killer whale was there, in the BC Tel pool - tiny by today's standards. We even have home movie footage of the killer whale that was trapped and put on display by fishermen in Pender Harbour in the late 1960's. I believe that this was the start of the learning curve about orcas in BC. My brother grew up studying marine biology, and later supervised the wardenship program for the Michael Biggs / Robson Bight wilderness refuge area for the orcas near Telegraph Cove, BC.
The more we can understand and appreciate marine sea life and our BC coast, the more I believe, that we will become better stewards and protectors of the environment and the fragile eco-systems of our planet. I feel that I have been blessed to witness sea otters, killer whales, dophins and even Grey whales in their natural environment on the Vancouver Island waters.
by
Todd
on Thu 20 Jul 2006 01:42 PM PDT
Beluga whales, Sue, Harrison and Deb at Aquarium - photo Todd Wong
by
Todd
on Thu 20 Jul 2006 01:51 PM PDT
Vancouver Aquarium: Beluga whale watching me.... - photo Todd Wong
