When exploring Montreal, many visitors find themselves heading to the largest science museum complex in Canada- Space for Life. This complex is built in the former 1976 Olympic park, and offers visitors immersive science experiences at the Botanical Gardens, Insectarium, Planetarium, and Biodome. This blog will introduce the Biodome and its furry, scaly, and feathery residents to you!
Housed in the former Velodrome from the ’76 Olympics, the Biodome has recreated 5 ecosystems found in the Americas- Tropical Rainforest, Laurentian Maple Forest, Gulf of St. Lawrence, Labrador Coast, and the Sub-Antarctic Islands. It goes so far as to mimic the seasons of each area, and is one of the only places in the world to do so! So what can you find while exploring the different areas of the Biodome? Let’s take a trip…
First, you will enter the humid Tropical Rainforest and find yourself among the macaws, caimans, and even sloths! Sloths aren’t always the easiest to find so as a fun little competition your group can have a challenge to see who can spot a sloth first! This area of the biodome also hosts important research on soil, trees, bats and giant toads that would otherwise be very difficult to conduct in the actual rainforest.
The temperature will cool as you enter the next area, the Laurentian Maple Forest. Here, you will get to see ducks, raccoons, porcupines, and playful otters (potentially using their rock waterslide!). The under water viewing tank will show you the layout of a beaver lodge, and has a camera inside so you can see what the beavers are up to in their home. The last stop in the Laurentian Forest gives you the opportunity to see the illusive Canadian Lynx, a truly beautiful wild cat.
The next part of the Biodome takes you into an aquarium that hosts species found in the St. Lawrence marine ecosystem. This unique ecosystem is and estuary that has freshwater rivers meeting salt water ocean. Here you will see variety of aquatic species like sturgeons, rays, starfish, and fresh water jelly fish.
You will continue on to the Labrador Coast and have the terns, gulls, and waterfowl flying and swimming around you, and then, you will see the puffin viewing area! Across the room houses the happy feet penguins representing the Sub-Antarctic Islands. This will be your last stop and you can sit and watch those fun little guys swim, jump and play around.
Finish off your exploration of the Biodome by grabbing a souvenir from the gift shop and voila! This really is a great place to come and be amazed, learn something new, and have fun. The team members of the Biodome are an excellent resource for information and facts and you are sure to leave with some awesome new wildlife knowledge!
Keep on exploring.
