Marine dive

Sujoy Dhar

Surrounded by electric blue, as one stands transfixed at the jelly fish section of Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada, the feeling is other worldly. The colour-changing display featuring the translucent jellies stumps visitors, transporting them to another world.

In the heart of Toronto next to the iconic CN Tower, this aquarium, which opened in October 2013, is one place where you can learn about a jellyfish’s metamorphosis from polyp to medusa as the gallery boasts of jellies like Pacific Sea Nettle, Moon Jelly, Spotted Lagoon Jelly, Upside-down Jelly.

And you experience all this after an already mind-boggling experience of a giant Dangerous Lagoon section. There as you stand on the moving walkway, above you fearsome water creatures glide by.

At Ripley’s Aquarium of Canada, Dangerous Lagoon is the largest exhibit in the aquarium at nearly 2.5 million litres, featuring Sand Tiger Shark, Sandbar Shark, Roughtail Stingray, Green Sawfish and green sea turtles!

According to the creators of the aquarium, the mission is to provide a world-class experience of marine life to visitors that will foster education, conservation, research and respect for underwater creatures, while providing unalloyed entertainment.

So here, one can take a deep plunge into the world of 16,000 aquatic animals. The Aquarium features North America’s longest underwater viewing tunnel with more than 5.7 million litres of water and over 100 interactive opportunities. Visitors can also get up close and personal with three touch exhibits featuring horseshoe crabs, sharks, and rays as well as daily dive shows every 2 hours.

This awe-inspiring attraction consists of nine carefully curated galleries showcasing a cross section of saltwater and freshwater environments from around the world — starting with species from Toronto’s backyard, the Great Lakes basin.

Among the nine sections in the aquarium, in the Canadian Waters gallery, aquatic life from surrounding seas of Canada are exhibited. Among the feature animals are Alewife, Largemouth Bass, American Lobster, Wolf Eel, Lumpfish, Giant Pacific Octopus and China Rockfish.

The Rainbow Reef gallery on the other hand takes you to the tropical waters of the Indo-Pacific region as visitors are treated to an exotic kaleidoscope of fish like Picasso Triggerfish, Humbug Dascyllus, Emperor Angelfish, Pajama Cardinalfish, Unicorn Surgeonfish.

And not to be missed is the gallery called Ray Bay where stingrays glide through the water elegantly. Ray Bay showcases dozens of rays from three distinct species In yet another gallery, one can be mesmerised by the display of Red Lionfish, Electric Eel, Lined Seahorse, or the Weedy Sea Dragon.

The Shoreline Gallery on the other hand allows you to touch the sandpaper-like skin of a shark or the silky smooth skin of a stingray as you learn more about them from the educators.

Tickets, which can be best purchased online with discount, are priced between 6.98 Canadian Dollars for a child below five to 26.98 Canadian Dollars for an adult. For those between six and 13 or above 65, the price is 16.98 Canadian Dollars.