Kicking off in time for Spring Break, the new exhibit Water Babies: Parenting 101 at the Vancouver Aquarium is bound to be a memorable one. This new feature, launching March 13, 2020, will highlight all things babies at the aquarium, while offering tongue-in-cheek Parenting 101 tips inspired by aquatic life. Tired of hearing parenting tips thrown your way? This exhibit will provide a fresh new approach with these amusing words of advice!
“Secure your baby while you look for food”; “Piggyback babies to the pool”; and “Grow babies in your limbs” are just a taste of the playful tips for raising water babies that will greet visitors at the Vancouver Aquarium this Spring. Each tip correlates to the parenting tactics of an ocean creature. Let’s take a note from the natural world, shall we?
• Learn why securing your baby while looking for food is a tip from the Sea Otter family at the Vancouver Aquarium. Fun fact: Sea Otters wrap their babies in seaweed or kelp to prevent them from floating away, while the adults hunt for food.
• Discover the co-parenting approach of the phantasmal poison frog. The eggs are laid by the female, then picked up by the male, put on his back and taken to a pool where they can safely grow.
• Find out how the parenting tip “grow babies in your limbs” applies to a certain species of jellyfish that grow their babies on their tentacles, until they hatch and swim away.
Water Babies adds humour to your visit, while also highlighting the conservation work going on behind-the-scenes at the Vancouver Aquarium, an initiative of the Ocean Wise Conservation Association. The Propagation Programs at the Vancouver Aquarium work to fulfill education, research and conservation goals of Ocean Wise. Researchers and biologists document the best conditions for raising species, they outline the physical development of animals that have never previously been detailed by scientists and help endangered species by raising and releasing animals into their natural habitat.
Understanding how water babies develop can better equip humans to protect these species and their natural environments. Maybe don’t take these tips too seriously, and avoid wrapping your baby in kelp just yet…
Water Babies: Parenting 101 will be launching on March 13, 2020. Find more details on the exhibit at https://www.vanaqua.org/explore/water-babies.
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