Aquarium du Québec, Public aquarium in Quebec City, Canada
Aquarium du Québec occupies a 16-hectare site in Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge, Quebec City, and holds more than 10,000 animals of over 300 species, specializing in boreal and arctic wildlife. The main building has a tall glass curtain wall beside a solid grey wall, with two pale grey cylindrical towers on the left and a dark blue and black glass facade above white doors. Ponds, rocks and a small wooden bridge stand in front of the entrance.
The site traces to 1953, when ichthyologist Vadim D. Vladykov persuaded Arthur Labrie of the Fisheries Ministry to obtain land by the Quebec Bridge. The government bought it in 1954 and building began in 1955. The Biological Centre of Quebec opened in 1956 with laboratories, a rotunda and two aquarium galleries; public reception areas and a restaurant followed, and the aquarium opened to visitors in 1959. Researchers left for the Quebec Science Complex in 1971, when the name became Aquarium du Québec.
The Aquarium's name changed from Biological Centre of Quebec to Aquarium du Québec in 1971, when research teams moved to the Science Complex. Its educational mission began in 1959 with a children's programme run with the Linnean Society of Quebec, a first for a museum in the province. The Festi Lumière holiday display uses more than 50,000 LED lights.
Visitors should prepare for changing weather conditions since the grounds are partly outdoors and clothing needs vary by season. On-site parking is available, and pathways through the exhibits are designed to accommodate both pedestrians and people using mobility aids.
The Awesome Ocean tunnel passes through a 350,000-litre seawater tank, where divers sometimes appear among the fish. The Aquarium's outdoor seal pools were added in 1960 after 150,000 people visited in its first public year.
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