Last summer my family and I were fortunate enough to have a chance to visit and tour the stellar sea lion open water research lab that has partnered UBC and the Vancouver Aquarium to study why the stellar sea lion populations in Alaska and the North Pacific are declining. Coincidentally, the sea lion population around our coast seems to be thriving. The facility is closed to the public and as a result not many people even know it’s there on a small arm of the Burrard Inlet. I