Well there, initially it was to do library research on surveys of the marine mammals, primarily at this time the beluga whales and a white sided dolphins, because part of the permit application had you define the size of the population from which you hoped to take the animals. So… Read More
And so I told him I was interested and I applied and there wasn’t really a, an in-depth interview process, it was, I was actually assigned acting curator. And so Breaker would tell me PR primarily start researching these animals and what’s required for the permit applications. I was responsible… Read More
Yeah, it was a new position because we used to have a little auditorium and I remember Bill Breaker calling the staff into this little auditorium. I think our, the entire entire aquarium staff might have been 75 people. And he announced that after years of wrangling with the board… Read More
How did you get the job? Did you have to interview?… Read More
Yeah. So you are promoted. Did you, did someone retire?… Read More
We were the guys that had to go and take care of it because we had the most people and we had the, the numbers of strong guys type of thing. So yeah, nothing really obvious, real glaring. One disappointing thing, I remember I was actually, this is predates my… Read More
Transport, not a net, but a stretcher and getting it into the aquarium and then what we call wa walking it, which meant put its mouth at a water ette to force water over its gills and bathe the gills and get ’em back to to speed. It was an… Read More
So it didn’t seem to hurt the animal. But get up there and nears is like six foot animal kind of slithering down the floor and like, oh my god, you know, like hopefully it’s gonna live type of thing. Read More
We ended up just scooping it up with a long, what do you call it?… Read More
During this time as the assistant curator, any memorable events?… Read More
When we’re looking at increasing the exhibitry or bringing in new animals or whatever the nice thing it was, there was always a good receptivity to new ideas. There was never a situation where you’d be like, oh, come on, that’s not gonna work. You know, I was like, well,… Read More
I assume animals didn’t escape in an aquarium, but any VIP visits or things that were unique, I remember touring around LE’s wife one time found out she doesn’t speak a word of English, so that was kind of like pointing and showing this and that. But I’m like, oh… Read More
But I’ve always loved learning and I still do. And it’s, to me, it’s like, don’t be the big shop, know it all type of guy. Be receptive to other people’s input and you know, take it with a grain of salt if that’s what it’s worth. Or, you know,… Read More
So other than, like I say in-House, nobody really helped you to mentor me As an assistant curator, how did you affect the development of the sections of the aquarium you were responsible for?… Read More
It was often working as a team. We would discuss things at our weekly Aquarius meeting and you know, something like these within the gallery, standing freestanding exhibits were something that were kind of a, a collective thought. And then somebody would say, oh my gosh, I would love to… Read More
Whatever might have thought he should have had the position. He was one of those individuals that pretty much knew everything there was to know, but not in a literal sense. But I just remember thinking, oh my gosh, I hope this guy leaves at some point because he’s just… Read More
Did you have mentors at this time?… Read More
Not formally. I, I often worked with the curator, Roger, and he and I would exchange ideas. We both had biology degrees, we both were home hobbyists. Nobody outside the she Aquarium at that time. ’cause I was just because coming into my own, I’m trying to think, I think… Read More
You know, ask them what do they think about this?… Read More
But I remember being on the stern deck of the coral reef, the first qua boat, and just having this talk with the other CO that were there. I said, you know, I know this is kind of awkward ’cause you know, I’m one of you guys, but now I’m… Read More