Staff from the Ucluelet Aquarium met with eager volunteers at Big Beach on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025 to collect buckets of sand for upcoming exhibits.
These weren't your typical kids' beach sand pails: the group worked in two sessions to fill garbage cans with sand for all the tanks in the aquarium.
Sediment collection is the first step aquarium staff take to prepare for opening day. "We do have to put in work to ensure the sediment we bring from Big Beach is free of cigarette butts, metal and glass," said Rachel Baker, interim assistant curator at the aquarium.
"Big Beach is a beloved ecosystem not just for the thousands of animals and algae that thrive in the turbulent surf, but is also a place that locals and visitors love to go to connect with and enjoy nature," she said.
"One of the things we concentrate on in the Ucluelet Aquarium is the connectedness of all things. This is important when we plan and build our exhibits, as well as when we take them apart. We attempt to build exhibits that are as close to home as possible for all the organisms we work with."
Collecting local sediment means they have the right "texture and thickness" for marine worms, clams and other organisms to burrow and take refuge, Baker explained.
Where many aquariums based in urban areas have hundreds of volunteers, it's different in a remote place like Ucluelet. "We have to be very resilient and self-sufficient, and we so appreciate anytime people have the opportunity to donate their labour to assist us," she added.
"It's been wonderful having the support of so many volunteers."
The next step to creating exhibits is for staff to go scuba diving and collect animals for this season's tanks. The Ucluelet Aquarium is a collect and release facility, and the animals spend about nine months in the tanks before they are returned to the ocean—sediment included. Sea water is filtered through the tanks and all animals are given a checkup by a veterinarian before they are returned.
Collections started on Sunday, Feb. 2. The aquarium will open for the season on Saturday, March 1 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and will be open daily after that until Nov. 30.