As protesters gather outside, Vancouver Aquarium visitors will have a chance to watch African penguins slip, slide and waddle at the Penguin Walk show this week. Guests are invited to see the birds up close while they have their daily walks around the beluga deck at the Arctic Canada Gallery.
The Penguin Walk gives the birds an opportunity to learn new behaviours, experience new sights and sounds and get extra exercise, according to marine mammal curator Brian Sheenhan. It is an important part of the care we provide to animals at the Vancouver Aquarium, he said.
The flightless birds will follow a team member and waddle along a curved pathway numerous times a day. Show organizers say the walks will allow visitors to have a closer look at the birds and experience them without a glass barrier.
Sheenhan believes that through the penguin walk, guests have the opportunity to form a genuine connection with the African penguins. We have never had penguins at the Vancouver Aquarium, they were found at the Vancouver Zoo previously. Vancouverites would have seen them at the zoos, said Nicole Cann, manager of interpretive delivery. We brought the African penguins here as they are an endangered species. They are susceptible to fishing threats and an oil spill happened not too long ago that affected the population as well.
As the penguins take their walk inside the aquarium, animal rights activists will be outside the facility this Saturday waving their signs in support of International Empty The Tanks Protest Day. No Whales In Captivity, an animal rights organization, will be participating in the first ever empty the tanks protest taking place at the aquarium.
According to event organizers on Facebook, the objective is to have many people come together to stand up against what they say is global industry that fuels the capture and containment of whales and dolphins in tanks.
From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., the protesters will hand out flyers and hold up banners and placards condemning what they call imprisoned animals forced to do tricks for human entertainment and profit.
Representatives from No Whales In Captivity were unavailable for comment to the Courier at press time.
Cann says the Penguin Walk shows are completely safe. Animal healthcare is the number one priority at the aquarium and we tested it multiple times to make sure [the penguins] felt comfortable, she said. The penguins at the Vancouver Aquarium were bred at another aquarium as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Species Survival Plan.
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