My wife and I haven't left the house for anything like this since March. With the Vancouver Aquarium closing to the public, I want to share a place that has been so important to my wife and I since we first met. 1/25

First, this is not the typical experience. They take safety very seriously. After all, their first priority is keeping animals safe. Lots of signage. And many more animals are used, too. Let's go inside! 2/25

No, this isn't what cis men send me pics of. This is Zap! He's an electric eel and he's front and centre when you step in. He's been there for a while, lighting the Christmas tree in the holidays for many years. 3/25

The current theme is aquatic parents. This isn't a "are this cis het ok" moment. It's designed to show the different ways animals care for their young.

Tag yourself. I'm "keep babies moist." Wife loved "stick babies on a plant. Leave." 4/25

Next we move on to one of the first things I showed my wife when they came to Vancouver. Sea otters!

They are all very playful. And they are all otters that have been found injured or abandoned. If @vanaqua was not here, these animals would not exist. 5/25

Like the otters, Helen here would not be here, if not for the help of @vanaqua. You can't see it here, but she's missing her front flippers. This Pacific Whitesided Dolphin got wrapped in a fishing net and would not survive in the wild. She was very active today. 6/25

Another animal who would not have survived if it was not for @vanaqua is Senor Cinco. He was found injured on May 5, 2017. It turns out he was shot in the face and just left to die. He can't see, but he has other sea lion friends now. 7/25

One thing the Aquarium does a lot of is helping injured seals and sea lions in the area. We had the opportunity to visit the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre in 2018 and there were so many injured seals being nursed back. Including Creamsicle, who we've now adopted. 8/25

Have I mentioned that the Aquarium is all about conservation? Because I haven't skipped an animal yet. Next we move on to the African Penguins. They are not local, but the Aquarium has done a LOT to help preserve the species. It's a little warm, so they are in the shade. 9/25

Back to the otters! They are visible underwater, too. And, oh more conservation stuff.

@Vancouver_Otter is on display as well, but because of where the sun was, we couldn't get a good pic of the 11 week old otter. Oh well. Baby Joey is adorable!

10/25

More sea lions, but these are the big males. They have their own tank. And they are noisy boys! So much barking from the water doggies! I think they're trying to get the girls to come over.

11/25

We're inside now. A lot less ability to distance, so I'm not taking pics of everything here.

I want this as a lava lamp.

12/25

The aquarium has done a lot to help preserve frog species. Like these little tree frogs. The main frog exhibit is closed because you can't distance, but we have these little guys.

13/25

A lot of the indoors is made up of local species. Local reefs being replicated to preserve (surprise!) endangered species like the Northern Abalone.

Somewhere in pic 3 is Ceph Rogan. The octopus named for Vancouver's local funny man.

14/25

The remainder of the indoor section is devoted to the tropics. Like these clown fish!

Hey, remember how Pixar made a movie about how capturing wild animals for the private aquarium trade was wrong and actually made the problem worse?

15/25

Just posting this sign to piss off the gender crits. Yellow Coral Goes say trans rights! Those trans het fish are alright.

16/25

There's a big tank in here with all sorts of sea creatures. We have rays! Schoona the sea turtle! And there are little sharks in there, too.

Schoona was found in our water, freezing. Guess who stepped up to help? That's right. @vanaqua! See a pattern? 17/25

Some more residents of the tropics.

A Livingstone (lionfish) which is a plague in the Caribbean.

And my wife and I love the garden eels. They are in pic 2, with their little heads just out of the sand.

18/25

The caiman has been a mainstay since I was a kid. I love alligators and crocodiles. Caiman are no exception. It's not Friday, but... well, we can still appreciate him.

19/25

Hey look! It's a meeting of the gender crits!

20/25

There are a lot of snakes in the tropics exhibit, too. Like this massive anaconda. They are not normally this visible.

21/25

And some little monkeys, too! I can't believe this guy actually sat still long enough to get this pic. There are a few of them in this area. And they are very little.

22/25

We actually had to wait to get into the more open exhibit because of a medical emergency (it's pretty hot in there).

While everyone was away, this big hermit crab crawled out of his enclosure. Eventually one of the biologists came to put him back.

23/25

And make no mistake, the Amazon area is very open. The sloths can wander from tree to tree (we think this one is Sally), the turtles can go from pen to pen. The ibises can fly around (and do).

Also, thinking of @DJGolfClap when we see the sloth.

24/25

And so, we leave. This isn't good bye, @vanaqua, it's sea you later.

We donated to help the Marine Mammal Rescue Centre at our wedding. The death of Chester was the spark that started my coming out. My wife and I bonded over the otters. We'll continue to support.

25/25