By Brittney Matejka

Vancouver Aquarium: AquaVan 150 visits Medicine Hat

Sep 10, 2017 | 8:42 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB. – The Vancouver Aquarium’s ‘AquaVan 150’ was in our city on Sunday afternoon at Police Point Park Nature centre for curious Hatters to explore under the sea and land.

Tamara Loney, Aquavan Educator said the truck and trailer have been travelling across Canada visiting different cities to share their knowledge. They have sea stars, sea urchins, sea anemones and artifacts on the tour for children to learn about and be hands on with.

“Kids get a chance to feel the animal, for a lot of them this is their first time ever seeing a sea star so they are super excited,” she said.

The tour moves the sea animals in a truck and trailer unit, Loney said that the animals get plenty of rest and don’t mind the motion of the highway.

“We’ve got mobile aquariums that can wheel in and out of the truck, it’s a lot of work keeping them cared for but they’re all inter-tidal animals so animals that are used to a lot of movement,” she said.

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The AquaVan program also hopes the tour from coast to coast will help educate children about the importance of our shorelines.

“Everywhere in Canada we are connected to our shoreline, Canada has 25% of the worlds fresh drinking water available so protecting our waterways as Canadians is especially important,” she explained.

They held a shoreline clean-up in the park, providing willing participants with gloves and bags said Loney. She explained that they gave out data cards for children to document what kinds of garbage they find, cigarette buttes and bottle caps were the most common items found in the park.

The AquaVan will be visiting a few schools in Medicine Hat his week. It also has stops in Calgary, Banff and Jasper before it returns home to Vancouver, BC.