Well, it’s interesting, we went through five different companies, I think, in the 15-year period. And people would always get really uptight about it and nervous and go, “Who’s the new owner, and what are they gonna do?” And I sort of took the approach, “Don’t worry about it. I’ll… Read More
And so I went to Amsterdam and I met a lot of beautiful people, great people. And, you know, there was a dolphinarium in there at Harderwijk. And we met other people from Europe and other aquariums and started sharing information. And then I started going to the International Marine… Read More
So I used to go to all these different meetings because, simply, I wanted to meet people and learn and again, ask them a bothersome question, “Why do you do that?” Are there new exhibits being contemplated or completed at Marineland during this time that you’re general curator, and are… Read More
The only really big development that we had in that timeframe in those 15 years was really that Baja Reef. There wasn’t a lot of capital money from the different owners that owned it. We were owned by different companies. And we were even owned by Hanna-Barbera, the studios, one… Read More
It was just part of the process of watching a company or companies not infuse capital money and market it in a correct manner to keep the attendance high. So it went down the slippery slope. And you mentioned, during this time, the park changes its name to Hanna-Barbera’s Marineland. Read More
At the time, Bill Walker went off to work at the Los Angeles County Museum to take care and curate that collection. And again, as I said earlier, he was fascinated with the marine mammals and the strandings in Southern California. So it fit in his wheelhouse much better. And… Read More
Were you interacting with any other marine parks?… Read More
Are there any for you to really interact with?… Read More
There were, actually. There weren’t a lot. I mean, the International Association for Aquatic Animal Medicine was formed in 1972, IAAAM. And, actually, in ’72 and ’73, I went to my first meeting. and the ’72 meeting was actually in Redondo Beach. We were the host. And the ’73 meeting… Read More
I was gonna say, as you look back on what you’re talking about, is the beginnings of handling and moving cetaceans and other large marine mammals, you’re inventing new protocols, there’s trial and error?… Read More
The business, I wouldn’t even say it’s a business, the art was evolving and the people that ignored the evolution of that were the people that ended up leaving. And they weren’t good animal people, really. The people that evolved would listen to each other and talk to each other… Read More
And the more you kept yourself, people did the same, they wouldn’t tell you. So it became very intriguing to learn new things all the time, especially to colleagues all over the world. I’ve learned so much from so many other people, because I learned how to ask why in… Read More
So how did this happen, and who did you replace?… Read More
‘Cause you know, they poop terrible amounts, large amounts, even as they, though, went through their molt, and they would defecate less, obviously, ’cause they were eating less. And then when they started to eat again, we learned the cycle. This really proved to be helpful in a lot of… Read More
California condor is another example. So this is very important. Read More
At the time that you’re the associate curator, getting any other advice aside from the one gentleman you mentioned who mentored you, or are your bosses helping you along?… Read More
Well, everybody was helpful at Marineland, because it was such a small staff. We all helped each other. I mean, every Thursday morning when a fish truck would show up from the freezer plant down in San Pedro, we’d call all the areas and say, “Get your jackets and your… Read More
How do they stay cool?… Read More
Do we let them flip sand?… Read More
How do we keep the sand clean?… Read More