When it opened in 1956, the Vancouver Aquarium Marine Science Centre was the first public aquarium to be built in Canada. When the first curator ordered some small clownfish and blue damselfish from an aquarium hobby store in Oakland, California, the $300 cost was so exorbitant that he thought surely he would be fired. Today, half a century later, the aquarium is home to 60,000 aquatic creatures and has an annual operating budget topping $13 million.

This is a behind-the-scenes underdog success story, a celebration of what the aquarium has achieved and a look into its future role, as told by Dr. Murray Newman, aquarium director from 1956 to 1993. From its humble beginnings--when it was without collecting equipment or even a cash register--the aquarium grew piece by piece, gallery by gallery, until it became a major biological institution internationally recognized for its exhibits and its programs in education, conservation and research. The aquarium has welcomed 30 million visitors to the underwater world and introduced generations of schoolchildren to the importance of conservation.

With text accompanied by stunning colour photographs from the aquarium archives, Newman recalls the people,creatures, controversies and triumphs that make up a fascinating history of a nonprofit organization entirely supported by the public. Entertaining sidebars feature anecdotes about the aquarium's resident animals, conservation awareness work, research and personnel.

Dr. Murray Newman came from Chicago where as a boy he kept tropical fish. He graduated from the University of Chicago in zoology, spent three years in the US Navy and Marine Corps in the South Pacific during World War II, studied marine biology at the University of Hawaii and did research at Steinhart Aquarium while earning a master's degree in zoology at the University of California, Berkeley. He lived in West Vancouver, BC, and passed away in March 2016.

Dr Murrary Newman's profile page

"People, Fish and Whales is a must for anyone interested in marine biology who wants to know more about the local treasure that is the Vancouver Aquarium."
—Surrey NOW

Surrey NOW

People, Fish and Whales: The Vancouver Aquarium Story

This book traces the development of the Vancouver Aquarium from its humble beginnings to its current status as the largest aquarium in Canada. It has colour and black and white photography throughout, with sidebars that round out the text and provide readers with additional information. The first section describes how the aquarium developed from a grassroots movement of amateur biologists with little government funding. The next sections deals with the fish and their peculiar habits inside the tanks. It then goes on to discuss the history of the whales and their training in the aquarium. It ends with a look at what goes on behind the scenes at what is now considered one of the top five aquariums in the world.

Dr. Murray Newman also wrote Life in a Fishbowl. He was the first curator of the Vancouver Aquarium and remained there for thirty-seven years.