Vancouver Aquarium has transferred ownership of the Stanley Park facility to a privately owned tourism company based in the United States, Herschend Enterprises. The facility has been closed for most of the Covid 19 pandemic, and aquarium executives had said the financial losses of the closure left them facing a permanent shutdown.
The Aquarium closed again in September 2020 to ‘change their business model’ and so far no timeline has been given as to when their gates will reopen. Vancouver Aquarium currently holds a lone Pacific white-sided dolphin called Helen who came to the aquarium in 2005 from Enoshima Aquarium in Japan. In September 2020, NMFS authorised a permit for the dolphin to be moved to SeaWorld San Antonio, Texas for display purposes and is valid until 15 September 2023 or until the dolphin is transferred, whichever occurs first.
Over the years, Vancouver Aquarium has housed three other Pacific white-sided dolphins (one of which came from SeaWorld, Texas and the others, like Helen, from Japan). The facility has also housed several beluga whales, harbour porpoises and a false killer whale.
