New Baby Beluga

I just thought I'd share:

I am a volunteer at the Vancouver Aquarium and have been watching over the Aquarium's 21-year-old Aurora on the nightshift as Aurora was pregnant with her third calf.

She just had her baby today. Unfortunately I was not there to see it happen, but I will spend the night at the Aquarium tomorrow.

You can see Aurora and her calf swim live here: http://www.vanaqua.org/belugacam/ and there is a link on that page to a couple of videos of the birth itself.

There is not a whole lot known about belugas and they are difficult to study in the wild. This is a pretty unique opportunity to learn about them. And it's quiet in the Aquarium at night...

No doubt, attendance at Aquarium will increase abit with the new family member. :)

I've never been to the Aquarium yet..and it's not far from home. :o

Grog, how wonderful! They are such lovely-looking animals. I will look forward to hearing more after your next night watch.

Wow!! How wonderful! We are hoping to get to Vancouver this summer on a trip with our daughter - the aquarium may become a must see destination for us.

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Originally Posted by maillotpois

Wow!! How wonderful! We are hoping to get to Vancouver this summer on a trip with our daughter - the aquarium may become a must see destination for us.

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Maillotpois, make sure you consider cycling to the Aquarium with daughter. There are some gelato places and cafes along the way. There is a bike path that is scenic that is paved and off-road. You can make that ride short or full length, over 25 kms. Aquarium is located within Stanley Park which the whole bike path winds around the whole park. Beautiful changing views along the way, including seaplanes that fly off by Coal Harbour where the Canada Place is located which outside of the park, but still along the Seawall multipurpose path.

Early morning along the path is best..if you can swing it. If you need a bike route guide, there are Vancouverites around.

shootingstar that sounds great but we won't have bikes and will have very limited packing space, so we may not even have closed toe shoes (aside from motorcycle boots) in the event we could rent bikes. I will definitely try to figure out how to get out there, though, even for a walk on some of it. We will definitely have to find the gelato and coffee places.... :)

any other suggestions welcome!

:D

Hey MP when are you coming? I'll send you a list of gelato spots. :) My husband is a gelato-maniac. Oh, and check these guys out: http://cleanhotdry.com/ There is quite a coffee culture in town now.

DO go to the aquarium. I've been to many aquariums and it's the one I feel best in. I love the way it uses entertainment to sneak up education about marine life on people. Great stuff for kids (hands-on with a sea cucumber anyone?). It's truly involved with conservation. And it's run by a combination of staff (350) and volunteers (over 600).

I'll keep you updated.

so out of touch with local news, never even knew!

glad you're enjoying the aquarium! I soooo miss it!!!

Thanks Grog! That is really amazing -- they are so beautiful to watch! I just spent more than 10 minutes on Beluga Cam! Forwarded it to a bunch of people via email.

Is that a fairly small area they have them in right now? What a great opportunity for you -- wonderful volunteer work. Enjoy!

Oh, how cool!!

I first saw a Beluga at an aquarium in CT a few years back and I was entranced by them. I could have stayed there watching that tank all day but the kids we brought with us wanted to move on. They are so beautiful and unique looking!

I can't do the live cam at work, but I'm definitely going to check that out tonight when I get home. Thanks for sharing!

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Originally Posted by badger

glad you're enjoying the aquarium! I soooo miss it!!!

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Come and visit! Are you still a member?

You should see Tiqa (for those who don't know: the 1-year-old beluga born last year). I think she's become a teenager all of a sudden: she's forgotten everything about her mother (whom she was swimming with all the time until yesterday morning) and swims about two meters away from the baby and Aurora all the time. I wonder what's going on in her beluga head...

Very neat! Thanks for sharing that. I would watch the cam for hours!

Grog, you are soooooo lucky to work there. I am so fascinated with the whales and would love nothing more than to be there with them.

You're all welcome to visit!

So we are hoping to get to Vancouver beginning of next week (as in 7/27 - 28). How is the baby beluga doing?

A list of gelato spots is welcome! My daughter would love that.

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Originally Posted by maillotpois

So we are hoping to get to Vancouver beginning of next week (as in 7/27 - 28). How is the baby beluga doing?

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It is going GREAT! I am very impressed with its fast progress. It's spending quite a bit of time playing with its half-sister, which is a mesmerizing thing to watch.

For the moment, you can only visit on the upper deck at about 4-feet away from the glass (above water) or in the underwater viewing area from 10 to 5:15. There are "beluga shows" but they don't do anything special, they just talk, because the trainers don't want to interfere with the mothers' education of their youngsters. :)

For the underwater viewing area, you need to line up and wait a few minutes because they only take about 20 people at a time down there. You see a video of the birth for about 3-5 minutes, then you get 5 minutes at the first observation glass and another 5 minutes at the next observation glass. I recommend going in the morning, especially if it's a hot day, to see some action. There is always a risk that one or more belugas will be in the "med pool" (sort of their private apartment) where you can't see them from underwater, but during the day they don't stay there for long usually.

Make sure you check out the new 4D theatre (included in the ticket price). I was skeptical but it's totally worth it!

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A list of gelato spots is welcome! My daughter would love that.

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On Denman street (near Stanley Park) there is a place called Mondo Gelato (near David) that is really nice.

For an unbelievable array of choices (almost too much) check out La Casa Gelato. http://www.lacasagelato.com/ It's out of the way for tourists though.

On Commercial Street, there is Dolce Amore. http://www.gelateriadolceamore.com/ (1590 Commercial Drive at Grant). If you arrive on Sunday, you can also check out the car-free Sunday on Commercial Dr. http://vancouver.ca/engsvcs/streets/...rcialDrive.htm

There is another place called Mario's Gelato but it's in the shadows of the construction at the Olympic Village. Good stuff though. 88 East 1st Avenue

Enjoy!

And by the way if you're at all interested in swimming, check out Kitsilano Pool (easy to google). It's nothing less than amazing: 135 meters long, half salt water, with the best view of any swimming pool. Nice beach there too.

Thanks, Grog!!

Also, my all-time favorite restaurant in Vancouver--the Banana Leaf (Malaysian food, really different and really wonderful). I think it's also on Denman.

Wow! Sounds great.

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Originally Posted by maillotpois

Wow! Sounds great.

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Yeah there is a Banana Leaf on Denman very close to Mondo Gelato (near Davie). Their roti canai is very good. I find the fish to be hit and miss but their Singapore Laksa is always fantastic.

Well, better late than never. :o. We are finally in Vancouver and today we rented bikes and cycled around Stanley park and went to the aquarium! It was fantastic. My pea brain remembered this thread from when we thought we'd make it here 2 years ago.

Our daughter is being trained to handle birds at the SF zoo right now and she loved the raptor exhibition from this conservation group on Vancouver island. They had some lovely hawks and a bald eagle who was really impressive.

And the belugas were wonderful. :).

Did you see the heron rookery? It's on the English Bay side of the park.

I love Vancouver. In case you can't tell. And on a clear day, the scenery is just spectacular.

We didn't see it. We definitely will be back. This is a great city and we did not have enough time. Next time Vancouver island, etc. For now, we head north.

Have fun, safe travel!