Ucluelet Aquarium
The Ucluelet Aquarium is a non-profit public aquarium in Ucluelet, a town on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. The aquarium opened a new permanent building on 1 June 2012. The smaller temporary building located on the waterfront promenade had previously operated as a feasibility trial beginning in 2004 and ran seasonally until 2011. It exhibits marine plant and animal life native to the west coast of Vancouver Island. The aquarium fosters an "up close and personal" visitor experience through their educational approach, which encourages active participation with staff and volunteers in learning about the marine life on display.
Displays
All of the specimens in the exhibits, with the exception of freshwater juvenile salmon, are collected from the nearby Pacific Ocean, specifically from Barkley Sound and Clayoquot Sound, and are seasonally released back into the ocean. This part of Vancouver Island harbours a wide variety of habitats and species because of its varied geography and exposure to the open ocean. Most specimens are collected either by scuba divers, by hand at low tide, or by hand seining beaches, whereby specific target animals are removed from the net and the rest are returned to the water. Other specimens are occasionally donated by local fisher folk who can access deep or offshore habitats.The feature display animal is the Giant Pacific Octopus, which at this northern latitude ranges to near the surface. Other animals central to the displays are various rockfish species, crabs, bivalves, feather duster worms, bay pipefish, sea anemones, and the sea pen. Interesting species sometimes displayed include the spotted ratfish, Humboldt squid, basket star, spot prawn, and red octopus. In addition, because the aquarium continuously pumps raw sea water through its exhibits, planktonic larvae of all sorts settle out in the exhibits, providing an ever-changing challenge of interesting discoveries. Of particular abundance are the opalescent nudibranch and sand-dwelling shellfish species like clam larvae, which grow into juvenile clams over the summer and are then returned to the beach.