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Parc Aquarium du Quebec

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zabelle
zabelle
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4 out of 5
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Parc Aquarium du Quebec

  • September 17, 2006
  • Rated 4 of 5 by zabelle from Portland, Connecticut
Parc Aquarium du Quebec

This is not the same aquarium I brought my children to over 25 years ago. Then it was very simple with a few smallish tanks and the main attraction were the seals. Now I don’t want to say that the seals are not still a great attraction but this has been expanded beyond all recognition. Originally constructed in 1959 the expansion and rebuilding began in 2001 and the grand reopening was in 2005. They now have more than 350,000 gallons of water and 10,000 species of fish and reptiles.

Chris however, was not nearly as impressed as we were. He has been to several other aquariums and certainly his parents have had a yearly membership at the Mystic Aquarium all of his life. We found the section about the fish of the St Lawrence River of great interest. There are a lot of plaques to read and this is where we lost Chris. At five years old he can’t read, luckily there were many exhibits that also had an audio phone that you could listen to. It was of course offered in both English and French.

One thing that I learned visiting here was that John Cabot was not English, call me crazy but I never knew he was Giovanni Cabato and that his name was Anglicized because he sailed for the English. I found it interesting that his ships were slowed down by the number of cod that were in the waters he was sailing. We also learned that there are no longer any striped bass in the river because they have been over fished. The exhibits are geared to teaching how to preserve the ecology of the river as well as exhibiting the inhabitants of the River.

There are also laboratories where you can view plankton under a microscope and there is a section geared to the little ones where they can stick their hands into all kinds of things. (Ugh)

There are a lot of outdoor exhibits as well. We visited the polar bear and waited patiently for him to jump into the water so we could watch him under water, of course he didn’t cooperate.

There are also lots of seals and walrus in the pools. They have several shows during the say where they perform for visitors. Chris was getting restless and hungry by this time so we sat on the grass for a while waiting for the show but finally we decided it was time to hit the road. Five year olds have a very limited ability to be patient. This is a good way to spend an hour or two with children especially if they are not as acquainted with aquariums as Chris is. There is a nice gift shop.

One plus is that they have their own parking lot and parking is free.

Look for signs for the Aquarium as you come across the LaPorte Bridge.

From journal Entertaining a 5-Year-Old in Quebec

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