AquaVan Coordinator, Kelsey Shore, explains how crabs ‘taste’ with their legs to kids at The Exploration Place this week

Prince George, BC – Sea urchins, sea stars, freshwater snails – they were all up for gentle touching (pinky fingers only), as the Vancouver Aquarium’s AquaVan rolled into town for an information-packed visit with area kids…

AquaVan’s stop in our city is part of a six-week tour through northwestern BC.  Staff at The Exploration Place say a total of 450 children were treated to the experience, including the museum’s daycare and after-school care participants, area homeschoolers, and members of the general public.

By the time the van’s tour of this region wraps up, the Operations Lead for AquaVan, Lydia Gibson, says approximately 3,000 students and 10,000 area residents will have taken part in local presentations. 

"The basic goal," says Gibson, "Is to, ideally, give the students the opportunity to connect with these animals because once you’ve learned to understand them and you realize that they’re alive and they move and they’re actually really interesting – then, that kind of fosters that desire to protect them."

AquaVan is on the road from March until the end of November, doing a six week on, two week off rotation and tours all over BC and Alberta.  Last year, it ventured to the Northwest Territories.  And next year will see stops in Saskatchewan.

"We’re one of the very, very few aquariums that actually has a program like this and I think we’re the furthest travelled aquarium in North America," says Gibson.

That travel has presented a host of challenges over the program’s two decades.  "Pretty much every trip we go on, there’s a brand new logistical issue we have to address," says the Operations Lead.  "This trip, they broke down on the road between Prince Rupert and Burns Lake in the middle of the night.  Luckily, there was a fantastic towing company from Prince George that came and collected them."  Severe mudslides a few years ago prevented the van from making the trek from Prince Rupert to Prince George and it was forced to head back to the aquarium via the ferry to Port Hardy.

In addition to learning about sea creatures native to the BC Coast, participants at The Exploration Place also learned about some of Canada’s natural habitats in places like the Arctic.  Photo at right, shows AquaVan Coordinator, Kelsey Shore, giving the kids a chance to feel polar bear fur. The skin was donated to the Aquarium by the RCMP.

Gibson says Aquavan’s ultimate goal is to inspire kids to get into conservation by generating an interest in the environment around them.

"The best part of doing this is people get so excited," she says.  "It’s just great to see their faces."

Anyone interested in securing a visit from AquaVan during its regional tours can contact aquavan@vanaqua.org