First look at Vancouver Aquarium's plan to build a new walk-through tunnel | Daily Hive

First look at Vancouver Aquarium's plan to build a new walk-through tunnel in a reimagined seal and sea lion habitat

Concept of Vancouver Aquarium's new B.C. Wild Coast area with an underwater walk-through tunnel. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Vancouver Aquarium)

There are now additional details and the very first conceptual artistic renderings of the Vancouver Aquarium’s plan to overhaul its largest outdoor pools located at the southwest quadrant of the attraction in Stanley Park.

As first reported by Daily Hive Urbanized last month, the aquarium will be providing its B.C. Wild Coast area with a complete overhaul that reconfigures its outdoor tanks, and replaces aging structures and life support systems. In the process, it will also add new major features that drastically improve the guest experience.

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Earlier this week, Vancouver Park Board commissioners swiftly and unanimously endorsed the aquarium’s project on consent — without any debate or discussion — following the recommendations of Park Board staff, which expressed very strong support for the project in their report to the commissioners ahead of the public meeting.

With that Park Board hurdle now achieved, City of Vancouver staff can now process and review the development permit application first submitted by the aquarium in December 2025.

The aquarium is working with Vancouver-based architectural firm Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership to design the extensive changes within the attraction’s southwest quadrant.

The existing B.C. Wild Coast area at the Vancouver Aquarium. (Kenneth Chan)

Currently, there are four outdoor pools within the B.C. Wild Coast area, with a combined total water volume capacity of 1.035 million gallons, including nearly 500,000 gallons for the largest pool. These decades-old pools are interconnected, and were originally designed for the orca whales that were once home at the attraction — up until 2001, when the last orca whale was moved. These pools were then subsequently largely used for dolphins and porpoises — until the last dolphin was relocated in 2021, marking an official end to the aquarium’s cetacean era.

The changes will reduce the number of outdoor pools in this quadrant from four to three. Not only will there be a reduction in the number of pools, but the surface area and water volume of the retained pools will be downsized.

When complete, the combined total water volume capacity will decrease by 50 per cent to 500,000 gallons, with the largest tank being 290,000 gallons.

Existing configuration of the outdoor pools in the B.C. Wild Coast area:

vancouver aquarium bc wild coast renovation

Existing configuration and size of the outdoor pools at the B.C. Wild Coast area of the Vancouver Aquarium. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Vancouver Aquarium)

Future configuration of the outdoor pools in the B.C. Wild Coast area:

Future configuration and size of the outdoor pools at the B.C. Wild Coast area of the Vancouver Aquarium. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Vancouver Aquarium)

One of the other driving factors for the decrease in water volume capacity is the displacement from the construction of a significant glass-enclosed, walk-through underwater tunnel for the largest tank, which is bound to become a popular additional feature for the Vancouver Aquarium. Such see-through, walk-through tunnels are commonly found in newer aquariums around the world, especially for shark/tropical waters exhibits.

For the Vancouver Aquarium’s version of such a tunnel feature, the conceptual visuals strongly suggest it will become a focal point for guests to experience the completely reimagined anchor exhibit of seals and sea lions under the aquarium’s ongoing successful Marine Mammal Rescue Program. The design appears to allow the mammals to swim both above and beneath the underwater tunnel, which is elevated well above the pool floor, giving them full vertical access throughout the habitat.

Extensive interior and exterior renovations to Levels 2 and 3 will enable the creation of this new underwater tunnel. The existing fourth outdoor pool at the southwesternmost corner of the attraction will be removed to construct a new stair/elevator tower connecting the interior and exterior components of the exhibit, with one end of the tunnel located within the aquarium’s main building and the other end at this new structure.

Furthermore, various brand new structures in the B.C. Wild Coast area could carry a B.C. fishing village-inspired theme — similarly mimicking historic structures found at Steveston Village, for instance.

There will also be an expansive new weather protection covering for the large outdoor viewing area between the outdoor pools and the main building.

Concept of Vancouver Aquarium’s new B.C. Wild Coast area with an underwater walk-through tunnel. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Vancouver Aquarium)

Example of a walk-through, glass-enclosed, underwater tunnel at Singapore Oceanarium. (Kenneth Chan)

Example of a walk-through, glass-enclosed, underwater tunnel at Aquarium Barcelona. (Kenneth Chan)

Other upgrades include new modern life support systems, providing the outdoor pools with updated mechanical, electrical, and filtration infrastructure.

In total, this project will create about 9,000 sq. ft. of new useable floor area, including over 3,200 sq. ft. of indoor exhibit space and 4,500 sq. ft. of covered outdoor deck space.

This project represents a 100 per cent privately-funded investment by Herschend Family Entertainment, which saved the Vancouver Aquarium from permanent closure in 2021, when it acquired the attraction from OceanWise amid the pandemic’s overwhelming financial impact on the non-profit organization. Herschend is known for owning and operating major entertainment attractions such as the Dollywood theme park, but it also has four other aquariums located in the United States under its vast portfolio.

This overhaul of the B.C. Wild Coast area could potentially be one of the single largest capital projects in the history of the aquarium, which will mark its 70th anniversary on June 15, 2026. It will provide one of B.C.’s most-visited tourist attractions with a major boost.

According to Park Board staff, the aquarium intends to move quickly on this project, with a targeted construction start in September 2026 — just after the peak visitation season — for a completion and opening in late 2027.

Existing configuration of the outdoor pools in the B.C. Wild Coast area:

vancouver aquarium bc wild coast pools existing

Existing condition of the outdoor pools of the B.C. Wild Coast area at the Vancouver Aquarium. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Vancouver Aquarium)

Future configuration of the outdoor pools in the B.C. Wild Coast area:

Concept of Vancouver Aquarium’s new B.C. Wild Coast area with an underwater walk-through tunnel. (Musson Cattell Mackey Partnership/Vancouver Aquarium)

In an interview with Daily Hive Urbanized in Fall 2025, Vancouver Aquarium vice president and executive director Clint Wright shared that under Herschend, ever since the U.S.-based company acquired the attraction in 2021, about $10 million has already been reinvested into long-neglected infrastructure invisible to visitors due to deferred maintenance from the previous era of financial uncertainty — including years prior to the pandemic — before the change in ownership.

That $10 million largely went into the mechanical equipment and building systems that support the animals under the company’s care, with a portion also going toward upgrading the Graham Amazon Gallery.

Wright also said the aquarium’s attendance has now rebounded to pre-pandemic levels. However, under the new private ownership model, the aquarium now has to become completely financially self-reliant. Previously, under the former ownership of non-profit organization Ocean Wise, it could assemble some additional significant capital funding from donors, grants, and governments. Now, all spending — both capital and operating — must be supported by revenue generated at the admission gate.

The aquarium’s largest renovation and expansion was previously completed in 2014 at a cost of $45 million, which provided the attraction with a new two-storey, 55,000 sq. ft. building with a new entrance, ticketing and admissions area, cafe, gift shop, children’s area, and courtyard, as well as additional gallery and visitor circulation space. This was intended to be the first phase of a $100-million renovation and expansion project planned by Ocean Wise.

Wright emphasized that any future expansions and improvements of the aquarium will be performed within its existing lease area, without the need to grow into Stanley Park.

Last month, a spokesperson with the Vancouver Aquarium told Daily Hive Urbanized more information on the renewal project will be formally announced in the coming months.

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