Well, (chuckles) it was sort of an ironic situation. Ed had left. (objects clattering) (door slams) Ed had left in ’91, and so I then was elevated to the top. And John Roberts, who was running Busch Entertainment, asked me at that time, he said, “Can you go down to… Read More
Well, there was different people that were running Busch Entertainment Corporation that were running the whole corporation. So Ed worked for the CEO of the corporation, and then I worked for Ed. And then Jerry Lentz from Busch Gardens retired, down in Busch Gardens in Tampa, so Ed was asked… Read More
That was new territory for you?… Read More
It was, it was new territory. It was new animals, but, again, it was, to me, the same him kinds of issues. It was people. You had to deal with the people first, find out what the relationship was with the animals, and try and provide the best practices with… Read More
It was really fun to work with them. As we were walking over here, I pointed out to you the little flamingo parade. Well, when I was in Japan years ago, I was at a park and they had this flamingo show where you’d sit down and they played classical… Read More
It may die. Read More
So during this time period, you’re the assistant zoological director and Ed Asper is the director?… Read More
Or who’s his boss?… Read More
So are you getting called at the middle of the night, “We’ve got a whale”?… Read More
Yeah the network would call all the time and go to a hotline. The hotline would determine that somebody would answer the hotline, determine where it’s at, what kind of animal, how fast do we need to get there, who’s gonna go, what kind of equipment and things like that,… Read More
So then all that has to be transferred to move the whale to the park?… Read More
Yeah, well, the support system and the veterinary care and lab and all that stuff is at the park, and the water. You have to have a body of water contained that you can manage it. It’s very difficult when a lot of stranders happen. Some people think they’re doing… Read More
And are you being asked to do this or is this part of SeaWorld’s rehabilitation and rescue program?… Read More
It’s part of SeaWorld’s program. It’s part of their DNA. It’s part of the heritage. It’s part of what we did. And the federal and state governments didn’t reimburse any of the money. Read More
What role does SeaWorld play?… Read More
We played a major role in the rehab of that animal, and brought the animal here and rehabbed it and got it to eat and took it back out and tagged it and let it go in the Gulf of Mexico. We spent a lot of energy and time on… Read More
And we had big logistics were with the Coast Guard to take it out on a Coast Guard trawler off of San Diego with these huge, and another ship that had a crane on it and craned it over the edge and let it go. And off it went with… Read More
And, of course, the staff is watching us walk around and look at things. And some of them know who I am for sure, so it wasn’t really a secret what we were doing or why we were there. We just said we were visiting ’cause we were in the… Read More
So at the very end of the discussion, and we’re standing there looking at the whales, and he looks at me he goes, (loudly) “So, should we buy them?” (laughs) And I look at everybody around me and I go, “Yep, That’s a good idea.” You need tot cough?… Read More
(man coughs) So, anyway, the staff there is going, “Wow.” And then, he kind of realized what he’d said and he just goes, “Oh, well, okay. (quietly) Do you wanna buy them? Do we wanna buy?” Anyway, there’s many stories, but he was a quality guy, a quality guy, and… Read More