Dr. Marty Haulena, DVM
Staff Veterinarian
Dr. Marty Haulena joined the Vancouver Aquarium team last spring after working for nine years at the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, California, which is the largest marine mammal rehab centre in the world. Specializing in marine mammals as well as other zoo and aquarium animals, Marty saw between 600 and 1,200 live stranded animals a year!
Marty was born in the Czech Republic but raised in Ottawa, Ontario. Like many children, he grew up loving animals and knew very early on that he wanted to work with marine mammals. Originally enrolled in the marine biology program at the University of Guelph, he realized that he was looking for something more hands-on and soon switched to the veterinary school. He received his Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine and continued on to receive a Masters of Science (Fish Pathology), also at Guelph.
In addition to working at the Marine Mammal Center, he has worked for the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut, the Links Road Animal Clinic in Toronto and acted as the relief veterinarian for the San Francisco Zoo.
But despite his love for his job at the Marine Mammal Center, after nine years, Marty was ready for a change. When the Vancouver Aquarium approached him about taking over the head veterinarian position from longtime Aquarium vet Dr. Dave Huff, he couldn’t turn down the opportunity.
“As far as Canada goes, there are very few facilities I’d even consider, and the Vancouver Aquarium is probably the premier facility of its kind in Canada,” Marty says. “The Aquarium just has a really good combination of being a world-class facility, having a great staff and a diverse collection of creatures.”
Though he now works with over 70,000 animals at the Vancouver Aquarium, Marty is reluctant to choose a favourite.
“I used to think I really, really loved dolphins,” he says. “They’re the animals I really wanted to work with and the things I loved the most, but the more you work with animals the more you realize that everything is amazing in its own way.”
In his free time, Dr. Haulena is an avid photographer and has focused on landscape and wildlife photography for over 15 years. In 2004, he launched Nature’s Renaissance Photography, aimed at fostering an appreciation of nature (Check it out at http://www.naturesrenaissancephoto.com.)