Meet the green-cheeked conures! Also known as the green-cheeked parakeet, these members of the parrot family make up for their small stature with a big voice — you'll definitely hear them before you see them! Stand near the exit to the gallery and look upwards for the best chance of spotting them.

It's World Nature Conservation Day! We're proud to support nature conservation in many ways, like our AZA SAFE programs, our work on the northern leopard frog and Oregon spotted frog recovery teams, and our partnership with the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society.

Southern two-toed sloth Sally celebrated her 27th birthday yesterday! While she's slightly more elusive than Hurricane, Sally is the much larger of the sloths in the Amazon gallery, because while Hurricane is part northern two-toed sloth, Sally is fully a member of the southern species!

This image has not been disTORTed — the pancake tortoise really is flat as a pancake! Its thin and flat shell is also flexible, allowing it to wedge itself into small rock crevices to escape would-be predators. #SurvivalOfTheSlowest

Now Playing at the 4D Theatre — The Great Salmon Run 4D Experience! Based on one of nature’s most amazing events, The Great Salmon Run provides insight into the forces of nature, which drive a chain reaction culminating in a spectacular wildlife event.

The ridge-tailed monitor gets its name from the spiny scales along its tail, which both act as a defence mechanism and a source of additional stability when climbing the rocky terrain it calls home!

Happy World Rainforest Day! In our Amazon gallery, the incredible beauty and biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest is on display, highlighting how the land and the water interact — as well as how the rainforest is threatened and what we can do to help it.

It's hard to believe sea otter Tofino is already a year old! Today we celebrated her first rescueversary with an ice cake (that Luna decided was for her), clam paste art, ice treats and all the seafood a little otter could ask for!

Introducing Jelly Jamboree, an after-hours Canada Day celebration at Vancouver Aquarium! 🍁 $20 child admission / $35 general admission 🍁 live music, face-painting, and exclusive animal programming 🍁 After-hours access from 6 to 9 pm Tickets: vanaqua.org/explore/spec...

Happy #WorldOceanDay! Today and every day, we're proud to be a home for thousands of incredible species of ocean life, and a place where people from all over the world can feel connected to the world's oceans and the wonders within them.

Happy eighth rescueversary to Steller sea lion Bella Bella (or just Bella for short)! Rescued on this day in 2017 and deemed non releasable by Fisheries and Oceans Canada, she is the second-youngest sea lion here! Full of energy, you'll often see her zooming around her habitat!

Happy Ocean Week Canada! We'd like to invite you to the World Ocean Day Celebration on June 8th in Stanley Park! Join the Vancouver Aquarium, Ocean Wise, Water Rangers and the Stanley Park Ecology Society for a shoreline cleanup, BioBlitz, and water quality testing!

Happy World Sea Lion Day!

Today is #WorldOtterDay — but we think the entire universe should be celebrating them! So we put together a planetary enrichment that's truly otter this world 🪐🦦🛸

It's National Volunteer Week! Over 400 volunteers and practicum students made waves this year at the Vancouver Aquarium and Vancouver Aquarium Marine Mammal Rescue Society. Thank you volunteers! #VolunteersMakeWaves #NVW2025

We've always preferred otters to goats. #VWFC #ThrowbackThursday

The blackspotted puffer fish is also known as the dog-faced puffer fish — and it's easy to see the resemblance! These fish have strong teeth that act like a beak, which can be used to break open the hard shells of the molluscs they like to eat.

We were thrilled to welcome a group of over 400 students and teachers from the Children's Hearing and Speech Centre of BC today! Thanks to the Burnaby School District, we were able to provide sign language interpreters for our sea lion training and Survival of the Slowest live presentation!

We're not joking — April 1 is also World Water Frog Day! The Titicaca water frog may look strange, but it's for a reason — the loose skin increases the frog's surface area, allowing it to absorb more oxygen from the water through its skin, so it doesn't need to surface to breathe!

Sloths spend almost their entire lives in trees — living a lifestyle where being slow is an advantage! Slow movement is preferable in the trees, reducing noise and visibility and keeping them hidden from potential predators. #SurvivalOfTheSlowest

⚠ Caution: Otters at Work ⚠

Shell-ebrate the beauty of spring with Nights at the Aquarium: Spring Fling — an exclusive fine dining experience set against the mesmerizing backdrop of the Vancouver Aquarium!

March 21 is the International Day of Forests! As a keystone species, sea otters help protect invaluable kelp forest ecosystems by snacking on sea urchins! Growth in sea urchin populations can cause devastation to kelp forests if left unchecked — sea otters help to keep these ecosystems in balance.

Today, March 20th, is World Frog Day! Oregon spotted frogs are an endangered species of frog found in wetland areas throughout the Pacific Northwest, including parts of the Lower Mainland. They are threatened by a number of factors, including invasive bullfrog populations and habitat loss.

Our member reservation system is currently unavailable—which means members are free to swim by anytime during operating hours, no booking needed! Simply present your proof of membership at Admissions to dive into your next adventure. Sea you soon!

Puget Sound king crabs are known for their distinct red, orange and purple colouring that gives them a unique look! One of the largest crab species on the West Coast, they can have a carapace up to 30 centimetres wide.

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the red Irish Lord! These sculpins have a colourful, mottled appearance that lets them blend in with rocks on the ocean floor — and they can also change their colour for better camouflage!

Gray ratsnakes feel at home in the trees! They can wedge themselves into the grooves in tree bark to get better grip as they climb — similar to how a seasoned rock climber can make use of the tiniest of footholds to support their weight, allowing them to climb straight up trees remarkably quickly!

The ridge-tailed monitor is good at getting itself out of a jam! Its spiny tail can be used to aid climbing as it searches for a place to hide — and once it finds one, it can squeeze into the smallest of rocky crevices where predators can't reach it!

Gopher snakes may look cute, but if they get into trouble, they can terrify would-be predators by mimicking a rattlesnake! They'll flatten their head, vibrate their tail and adopt the familiar strike pose of a rattlesnake to frighten away foes! #SurvivaloftheSlowest

And the Oscar goes to.... The oscar! A large member of the cichlid family and sometimes called a tiger oscar, these fish would probably be up for the Best Makeup Oscar due to the eyespots on their tails that help confuse predators.

Red lionfish have become invasive off the coast of Florida and throughout the Caribbean sea, depleting populations of native fish species in their invasive range. Efforts are underway to manage the invasive population — including establishing them as a sustainable food fish!  #InvasiveSpeciesWeek

The American bullfrog's native range spans as far east as Nova Scotia and as far west as Idaho, but it's considered invasive in places like British Columbia, where it threatens the population of endangered local frogs like the northern leopard frog, one of the most at-risk frog species in the world.

The spikes and ridges on a bearded dragon may appear to be a sort of rigid armour, these lizards are actually quite flexible! The purpose of these bumps and spines, then? They break up the bearded dragon's outline, making it tougher for predators to identify it!

Members of our team are wearing pink today to show support for Pink Shirt Day! Today we stand against bullying and "Let Kindness Grow".

We're fin-troducing an all-new tiered membership program—designed to offer more flexibility and even greater value! Whether you’re looking for extra benefits, bigger savings, or shrimply want to spend more time together, there's a membership option for everyone. vanaqua.org/visit/membership

Many tarantulas have barbed bristles known as urticating hairs that act as their primary defence mechanism! Tarantulas in the genus Grammostola, like the Chaco golden knee tarantula and Chilean rose tarantula, have more urticating hairs than most other genera.

The eastern box turtle is a hinge-shelled turtle — once it withdraws its extremities, it can clamp its its shell shut to defend itself! This effective technique prevents most predators from being able to prey on adult box turtles, despite their slow speed.

A splashy update is coming to Vancouver Aquarium memberships! Keep an eye out next week as we roll out our new and improved membership program, bringing you even more ways to connect with the incredible.

Meet Mandy, the two-toed sloth in our limited-time Survival of the Slowest exhibit! Come visit to learn how slow and steady can win the race for sloths like Mandy and other chilled-out creatures!

Survival of the Slowest opens TODAY! Meet Dash the bearded dragon and plenty of other slow-but-sturdy creatures at this limited-time exhibit, where you'll explore all-new immersive habitats, learn hands-on with interactive experiences, and meet the masters of mellow.

Snow day ❄️

Happy Day of the Mexican Axolotl!

Happy International Hot Chocolate Day! Beat the cold this weekend with a Hop Chocolate, one of our Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival offerings this year! Plus, you get to keep the adorable tree frog mug! 🐸

In today’s fast-paced world, take a moment to slow down together… because life’s greatest adventures are never rushed.

Happy Lunar New Year! Wishing everyone a happy and healthy Year of the Snake 🐍

Seal-ing the spotlight ✨

BC Family day is coming up soon, and we have exciting deals to celebrate! You can get one child admission ticket for free with the purchase of a general admission ticket between February 7th and 17th! Or, if you're a Vancouver Aquarium member, you can bring a friend free during those same dates!

Does slow and steady actually win the race? At our new limited-time exhibit Survival of the Slowest, explore all-new immersive habitats, learn hands-on with interactive experiences, and meet masters of mellow that thrive in ways that might surprise you. Survival of the Slowest opens February 7!

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