The Martlet

Two UVic students are getting swept away by one of Vancouver Island’s newest attractions.

Bonnie Cleland and Jillian Dunic have spent this past summer working as “oceaneers” at the new Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre in Sidney.

The centre, which opened on June 20, focuses on the waters of the Salish Sea, the name given to the inside waters off Vancouver Island.

Emphasis is placed on conservation and sustainability.

Cleland and Dunic’s major roles are educating the public.

“Working here has really brought out my love of biology,” said Cleland, a fourth-year Bio-Psych major. “We talk to people about [the sea life displayed] in the centre, where it comes from and issues around conservation and sustainability.”

Working as oceaneers also provides these students with the unique opportunity to work with knowledgeable aquarists and learn, through hands-on experiences, about their areas of study at UVic.

“It’s our hope that [both staff and visitors] will take from here a deeper appreciation of issues affecting our ocean, and think about their own impact on the local environment,” said Linda Funk, one of the centre’s educators. “In fact, we ask them to make a promise to the ocean before they leave.”

Not everyone supports the Discovery Centre, however.

Groups and individuals have raised concerns that the aquarium may actually do more harm than good, as removing sea creatures from their natural habitat could possibly cause them distress or potentially disrupt their natural life cycles.

But Dunic says the aquarists go out of their way to ensure the health, safety and comfort of all the marine life in the centre to make certain that their transition from the wild waters of the sea to life within the Discovery Centre goes swimmingly.

“The animals are the first priority here, by far,” said third-year student Dunic. “We use ocean water. The only thing we have trouble simulating are the tides, but most of our creatures are intertidal anyway, so they are actually safer here.”

Many of the animals at the centre are actually borrowed from their ocean homes, and will be returned to the Salish Sea to complete their natural life cycle after a few months time.

”We encourage people to come talk to us if they have a question or concern about any of our creatures or habitats, and give us the opportunity to explain what is really going on and why,” said Dunic.

Both oceaneers say that knowing what’s going on in the water is key to keeping the ocean healthy now and for later generations.

“This centre will create empathy for the ocean,” said Cleland. “If people really learn about what’s living in their local waters, they will care more about where their garbage goes.”