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Touch tanks return as Ucluelet Aquarium unveils new season’s creatures

Touch tank exhibits are back for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic
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Countless charismatic critters have made their debut as the Ucluelet Aquarium opened its doors to a brand new season on March 1. Aquarium staffers Veronica Aguiar (left) and Rachel Baker cheerfully posed in front of a colourful tank that includes strawberry anemones, a Red Irish Lord, roughback sculpins, giant acorn barnacles and heart crabs. The aquarium is open every day from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. (Andrew Bailey photo)

The Ucluelet Aquarium is back in action.

The aquarium introduced its excited fans to the season’s new cast of critters on March 1 and unveiled touch tank exhibits for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, though animals will be eased into interactions without being lifted outside the water.

“We’re excited to give people the experience to learn through their fingers and having education at their fingertips quite literally,” Britt Buirs, who is helming the facility’s wheels while longtime curator Laura Griffith-Cochrane is on maternity leave, told the Westerly News.

“To really focus on animal care and wellness, we want to start slow…It’s good to start off slow and learn how animals are behaving and responding to touch, rather than going full force and taking them out of the water.”

Buirs said the aquarium has added some artistic flare this season, including switching to darker sediment in the tanks.

“Some of these animals really pop on a darker background, if you want to bring art into the picture,” she said. “It’s been fun to think about building this year in a more artistic way to really showcase the animals in the foreground with a different background, while also being reflective of their natural habitat, so people are learning about what it’s like right outside our doors.”

All the animals that awe aquarium goers are collected within Barkley and Clayoquot Sounds and different species are collected at different times of the season, creating a constant flow of new characters to discover at the facility.

“As the season moves on, the exciting thing about us is that things are always changing,” Buirs said. “For those that are visiting multiple times, hopefully they get to learn about new things everytime they come in.”

She added that she’s particularly excited about the arrival of two kelp poachers, which have never graced the cast with their presence before.

“We’ve got a fish in here, two of them actually, that is a type of fish that we’ve never had at the aquarium before and I’d never actually seen one until one of our divers brought them in,” she said. “The cool thing about this place is there’s always something new to learn about and there’s always something new to find and explore and share with everyone else that comes in.”

A traditional crowd favourite at the aquarium has been the Giant Pacific Octopus and Buirs is excited to be opening the season featuring a particularly adorable baby one.

Giant Pacific Octopuses typically live 3-5 years and the young male at the aquarium is estimated to be just a few months old. A contest to name the baby octopus is expected to hit the aquarium’s social media channels in short order.

Buirs said she’s been elated to see a steady stream of excited visitors migrating through the aquarium and many repeat visitors already.

“Feeling the excitement really pays off all the work we put in over the winter. The reason why we do it is to share it with the people that come through our doors,” she said.” It gives local adults and kids the experience to come learn about what’s in our backyard.”

She added that along with providing captivating enjoyment, the aquarium’s cast of creatures and hands-on staff spread valuable knowledge that’s shared throughout the community.

“For people that come out and work in other tourist industries, like whale watching or kayaking, they can use this as a place to learn and bring their knowledge to their workplace and share it with even more people,” she said.

She added the aquarium is grateful for the community’s continued support.

“We do rely on the support of the community to keep our doors open, to support the stoke that we share and to spread the word about bringing people in here,” she said. “We are super grateful for the support. Retail, admissions and tank sponsorships are the three main factors that keep our doors open. As a community member, whether you are walking through the door, or you are sponsoring a tank, we wouldn’t be able to keep our doors open if it wasn’t for your support.”

The aquarium is open everyday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tank sponsorships are available by emailing info@uclueletaquarium.org.



andrew.bailey@westerlynews.ca

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Andrew Bailey

About the Author: Andrew Bailey

I arrived at the Westerly News as a reporter and photographer in January 2012.
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