Sidney, BC’s waterfront Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre opens in June.

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If scuba diving is out of your comfort zone, but you love the idea of exploring underwater, you’ll want to make a beeline to Sidney, BC on Vancouver Island this summer. A brand-new, sustainably designed, multi-million dollar educational aquarium—the Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre—debuts June 19 on Sidney’s waterfront.

Your underwater journey begins by simulating a descent to the ocean floor—all done with special effects, so you won’t need to hold your breath—where you’ll meet the creatures that live in the real ocean just outside. You’ll feel like Jacques Cousteau, but without a tank on your back and without the chilly water immersion.

Hundreds of invertebrates—anemones, sea stars, tube worms and jellies—share large tanks with expansive viewing windows. Overhead, look for a Pacific octopus and wolf eels lurking in their caverns. Salmon, herring and rockfish silently glide by as you move from seafloor to seashore. Kids will love sticking their hands in the touch tanks or looking at tiny specimens up close under a microscope.

If you thought only tropical oceans had colourful, complex ecosystems, you’ll be surprised by the extraordinary diversity in the ocean around Sidney and Canada’s Gulf Islands. And when you come up for air, you’ll see the spectacular waterfront that makes this place just as wonderful for people.

www.hellobc.com

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