So you had to make a compelling, not a story, but a compelling idea of why I was so important to do these different things and make it palatable so they could really get it and understand it. Because, to them, it cost money and they wanted to know why. Read More
Were you, during this time, you kind of talked a little about it, able to develop your professional growth, and how did you do it?… Read More
Was it just mainly through meeting colleagues?… Read More
It was, it was just mainly through meeting colleagues. The management style that I adopted, I didn’t go back to a management school or a management class. And they didn’t have those then. Or if they did, we certainly didn’t send anybody again. Again, I fashioned it a little bit… Read More
So there really was no change at the animal management level?… Read More
There was never really much animal management level changes. It was always fascinating, though, for me to look at the new management and find out who they were and how would I educate them on what we did. And I spent a lot of energy and time doing that, because… Read More
And I would be asked a question, for instance, well, why did we give clams to the walruses?… Read More
“It’s awful expensive.” And I said, “Well, you know, it’s expensive, but it’s part of their diet. It’s what they eat. And so I had to do a demonstration of how they crack the shells in the back of their teeth, suck it out like a sunflower seed and how… Read More
Why the name change, and what did that mean to you and the people who managed the animals?… Read More
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