I couldn’t believe it when I visited Marineland, Niagara on Sunday for the first time with my family only to find out that there were no actual fish to be seen. Even more humorous was the fact that the only sea living creatures there were all mammals: Beluga Whales, Killer Whales, Dolphins and Seals – all beautiful and fascinating creatures.

My gripe is more about the name Marineland and the brand promise that goes along with the name. I expect this center to be the experts in marine life. Instead, the majority of their effort went into rides and a petting cage for deer (I confess I have never seen deer whilst scuba-diving).

In their defense, I did get some clarification only after asking the obvious questions to one of the trainers. Apparently they are working on an actual acquarium to be opened who-knows-when. Meanwhile, I spent well over $100 bucks there and managed to get precious little new knowledge out of my experience – I now know that my daughter loves roller-coasters! Even though my wife was suckered into buying season’s passes, I won’t go back until their offering is a little more in line with what they claim to be.