SHAW OCEAN DISCOVERY CENTRE - A WORLD CLASS ATTRACTION IN SIDNEY BY THE SEA BC

Greater Victoria's newest attraction just opened on the waterfront in Sidney by the Sea. The new Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre is world class and truly amazing. It is in the lower floor of the Pier Hotel at the end of Beacon Avenue in downtown Sidney. When you enter through the deep sea portal, you will be dazzled by what you find inside. A series of galleries display much of what you would find if you went scuba diving in the Salish Sea which surrounds lower Vancouver Island. Anemones, starfish, jellyfish, shrimp, kelp, giant pacific octopus, wolf eels, and much much more.

First stop is the “Gallery of the Drifters” with back-lit tanks filled with plankton, algae and jellyfish.   Up a couple of steps, and we are in the “Ocean’s Heartbeat”, a high-tech classroom with video, microscopes, Internet links to undersea sites and live specimens. Marine educators are on hand to answer questions and assist visitors.  It is anticipated that approximately 8,000 school students will visit the Centre each year.  The next area houses the “Gallery of the Salish Sea,” full of marine life.  In the background, you will hear the sound of a Salish paddle song as life-sized Orcas swim across a giant video screen.  

An overhead projector with movement sensors casts a watery scene on the floor that changes as you walk over it.  As you leave this Gallery, you will pass through an archway tank that is home to a Giant Pacific Octopus. In the last section, you will discover a touch pool where we can get our hands wet and get face to face with some very unique sea life.  This tide pool also extends to the exterior of the building.  Then there are a number of displays and a gift store. 

The Centre has been designed to inspire us to explore, discover, and cherish the ocean.  It makes you pause and think about our own impact on the environment, particularly the ocean.  At the end of your journey through, you are asked to make a promise to the ocean, which is posted on the wall.  

Below are photos of the centre.

The Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre Photos Courtesy of the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre