I’m like, kinda like, we have no secrets here. You know, we’re, we’re playing by government rules and we’re doing best by the animals. So yeah, nothing really majorly disruptive. I mean, things were going on an even keel, Amazon was being developed and Wild Reef came on board. And… Read More
Good, good people, very, very confident, very compassionate people in many cases. And generally just good to work with. Read More
During your time as director of animal collections, were there any major issues that came up during your tenure as Director of Collections?… Read More
You know, by that point there was just a modicum of activism, you know, that was not happy with what we’re doing, but they, they did not have the presence they once did. And I think again, the media folks realized, you know, Shedd’s doing a great job. There’s nothing… Read More
So it was used for animal acquisition research, but also for education. A huge education tool where students could apply for a class and actually get as part of their class a trip on the boat over The Bahamas and see environments and, you know, snorkel and a truly immersive… Read More
And then we sold the boat in the late 1970s. But it was a board approved that we’re gonna build our own boat and design our own boat. And that’s where Captain John Rothschild came in. And the boat was assembled on the Aya River down in Louisiana. And John… Read More
We were able to design bigger and more, more numerous live wells to keep the animals alive during the collecting trip. Prior to shipping all the, you know, like the compressor for filling scuba tanks was upgraded twin diesel engines. It was really a nice, nice boat. It still is. Read More
Were you in charge as Director of collections?… Read More
And what was it used for?… Read More
First of all, the boat was used for several different operations of the She Aquarium. It was used by our conservation researchers that had work going in The Bahamas. So that, that grew in latter years. More importantly, it was used for specimen and collect collection in The Bahamas in… Read More
Now I’m the veterinarian. I know what to do best. So finding that common ground and working together. So you had talked earlier about that the Shedd had a major sea going boat. Read More
And I remember they saw it at the research, I mean at the rescue facility. We saw it back at the aquarium where it would have a grand mal seizures and the trainers were trained what to do for the animal when they experienced this. So the animal, I mean,… Read More
Can you give us a little, how did this come about and did you have the opportunity to use this boat?… Read More
So we had a number of very young pups and Terry Williams, one of the research scientists up there who was running that particular facility and happened to be a good friend, she says, as we’re getting ready to leave, she goes, how many otters do you wanna take with… Read More
Well, the director sent Ken Ramirez, myself up to Alaska. He says, I want you to be part of the Sea Otter rescue operation up there. Help ’em out. You know, you guys have good animal handling experience, da da da. So we ultimately worked at the Valdez facility and… Read More
I said, geez, I wish, you know. And I told her the situation. She goes, no, we’ve got 22 orphaned otters, we need homes for them. And that’s how we got our first four sea otters. And I was like, wow, fortuitous. And one of ’em actually Shanik was an… Read More
Yeah, yeah. Ultimately I oversaw that when it came to marine mammals, you know, we’re pretty well set. Although in time, you know, well, I should share with you the, the first four sea otters came to us as a result of the Exxon Valdez oil spill. We had this… Read More
So I’m thinking, okay, where else can we go?… Read More
So, so were you now responsible for the acquisition of all animals?… Read More
You know, and again, a very healthy relationship and they were able to fill me in and, you know, come to me with special budgetary requirements or requests, excuse me. And it was, again, I was at the senior management table at that point and it, it went really well. Read More