Ecosystems and Biodiversity Despite a global ban on the use of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in 2004, the chemicals persist in the environment and have accumulated up the food chain. High levels of PCBs have been found in the blubber of killer whales. A model has shown that more than half of the 19 orca populations […]

Dr. John Nightingale, CEO and president of Ocean Wise, was awarded the prestigious Humane Hero Award by American Humane, the United States’ first national humane organization, during a ceremony on Sept. 29 at the Beverly Hilton attended by leading animal advocates and animal-loving Hollywood stars. Nightingale received the award in recognition of his leadership in […]

On Wednesday, September 26, during the annual Association of Zoos and Aquariums conference in Seattle, WA, the Vancouver Aquarium received the top industry standard  following a thorough review by AZA’s independent Accreditation Commission. The AZA accreditation program was established in 1974 and the Vancouver Aquarium was the first-ever aquarium to receive this designation in 1975. […]

Ecosystems and Biodiversity Three new species of snailfish have been discovered living 7.5 kilometres below the surface of the ocean. These snailfish have gel-like bodies that are actually together by the crushing pressures of their deep-ocean surroundings. (About 800 bars of pressure or 11, 603 pounds per square inch.)  If raised to shallower waters, they would […]

This past weekend in Cambridge, Ontario, the Vancouver Aquarium received accolades from the Canadian zoo and aquarium community, winning the Thomas R. Baines Award for the creation of the Steller’s Bay  exhibit, and the Col. G.D. Dailley Award, which recognizes achievement in propagation and management programs that contributes to the long-term survival of at-risk animal species or populations. […]

Plastics There are fewer microplastics in ocean surfaces than expected — what gives? Scientists are using polystyrene beads (also known as microbeads and recently banned in Canadian cosmetics) to find out. Studies show that even low-density plastics, which would normally float, clump together with biological particles in the water and sink to the seabed. Microplastics don’t […]

A specialized team of diving researchers from Ocean Wise is wrapping up a trip to the High Arctic this week, diving at underwater sites near Resolute, Nunavut that have never been explored before, and documenting the marine life that inhabits them. The research is possible because of an innovative partnership between Ocean Wise and One […]

Ecosystems and Biodiversity A new study from Ocean Wise Seafood’s Laurenne Schiller into the economics of deep sea fishing has suggested that the industry isn’t important to global food security, despite what fishers say. Most high-seas fishery catch is destined for upscale restaurants and store counters in America, Western Europe, and Asia and these fishing […]