New Baby Beluga

[Grog]

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...

[shootingstar]

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.

[salsabike]

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

[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.

[shootingstar]

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.

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.

[maillotpois]

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!

[arielmoon]

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

[sundial]

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.

[Grog]

You're all welcome to visit!

[maillotpois]

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.

[Grog]

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

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!

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

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.