Business Operations Abstracts
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Aquariums in the 21st Century:
Meeting Global Challenges with Regional Solutions Chris Andrews, Merlin Entertainments Group (SEA LIFE Global) Watch Video (Login required) Full Abstract
SEA LIFE (part of the Merlin Entertainments Group) is the largest global operator of public aquariums, with 47 facilities in 15 countries across four continents. Each year over 20 million people visit a SEA LIFE aquarium. Despite the company’s continued growth in recent years, and planned future growth, these are challenging times for public aquariums, with overall decreasing popularity and rising concerns from the public regarding the keeping of some wild animals in human care. This paper will identify some of the key global challenges faced by public aquariums, and outline possible solutions identified by Merlin related to, for example, the development and maintenance of the highest standards of animal care and effective disease control, ethical and sustainable sourcing of animals, staff recruitment, training and retention, and the need to identify and enhance education and in situ conservation impacts and outcomes. Examples of inter- and intra-organizational partnerships will be provided, and the importance of support and involvement with regional accrediting and professional industry organizations will be emphasized, as will the need to seek innovative approaches to impact ocean conservation in a clear and demonstrable way. |
Aquarium Business 2020: New Markets, New Generations and New Opportunities Elena Kazlas, ConsultEcon, Inc Watch Video (Login required) Full Abstract
In recent years, aquariums have been recovering from the economic recession of 2008 and a resurgence of new aquarium development, expansion and renovation has occurred. Aquariums still tend to be price and attendance leaders in their respective markets, and, therefore, vital as community resources for economic development. However, perhaps the greatest benefit of aquariums is that aquariums have the capacity to excite audiences’ inherent fascination with aquatic life as a basis to educate and foster stewardship of our precious marine and fresh water ecosystems. Global market characteristics are changing: China is struggling with aging population and diminishing younger population, while in India, 65% of its population is under 35 years old. Each aquarium’s market is unique, however all aquariums need to address changing market dynamics. This presentation will be a review of new markets for aquarium development worldwide; the business and market sustainability of aquariums as it relates to changing demographics in aquarium markets; and new opportunities that emerge for aquariums in the areas of earned revenue and visitation growth. This work will be developed from ConsultEcon’s international aquarium experience and an international survey that Ms. Kazlas will conduct in June 2016 of aquarium leaders and colleagues as a continuation of Ms. Kazlas’ previous study presented as the business session keynote address during the IAC 2012. Successful examples of how select aquariums and other visitor attractions are addressing these market changes to increase earned revenue potential, to attract new audiences and to sustain attendance, will be presented. In addition, Ms. Kazlas will present an overview of the future of the aquarium industry internationally to address key questions: Are there too many aquariums? Are they sustainable? What is the market for more aquariums worldwide? What is the intersection of aquariums with the “real” world, e.g. changing demographics, competition, perception, and conservation. |
Surviving and Thriving Through Construction of Seattle's New Waterfront Robert W. Davidson, Seattle Aquarium Watch Video (Login required) Full Abstract
Here’s the story of how the ninth largest aquarium in the USA, located along Seattle’s waterfront, has navigated an earthquake, three years of construction replacing the city’s seawall, eight years of political and public debate over dueling plans to replace the elevated highway running along the waterfront, the decision to bore a tunnel under the city and the drama and frustration of the world’s largest deep bore drilling machine stuck under the city for two years. All in the context of grand scale planning for a new Waterfront Park by a renowned New York design firm working with a 34-member citizens committee. Hear how in the midst of these events the Seattle Aquarium assembled its own design team to lay out its expansion vision with much stakeholder input, gained city approval for the Aquarium’s master plan and completed a campus concept design. All of that and the first shovel on the Aquarium’s expansion is still at least four years away. There are lessons for other aquariums in this story, whose end is not yet in sight. |
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Breaking the Mold -
Developing Creative Diversity in a Husbandry Team Tinus Beukes, Two Oceans Aquarium Watch Video (Login required) Full Abstract
Public aquariums are increasingly committing to elevating exhibits from humble glass boxes that keep fishes, to beautiful works of art. Marketing new exhibits by emphasizing their aesthetic appeal along the lines of “living art” has become common practice. Despite this emphasis, most advertisements for husbandry positions at public aquariums continue to favor scientists, typically requiring a B.sc. degree for employment as an entry-level aquarist. Qualified visual artists are inadvertently excluded, fated to apply their skills as hobbyists, or finding expression in commercial aquascaping companies. Is it desirable and possible to redress this imbalance? What are the challenges, benefits and risks in pursuing a relaxed employment policy that encourages the inclusion of artists in a husbandry team? How does one mentor a qualified artist to become a competent aquarist? This presentation provides answers by examining the history and development of the husbandry team at one of the leading public aquariums on the African continent. The Two Oceans Aquarium has thrived over the last twenty years by utilizing an employment policy that value staff diversity beyond scientific qualification, enabling the appointment and mentoring of visual artists to rise to senior levels on the husbandry team. Practical insight is presented, including objective criteria for evaluating artistic candidates. The presentation highlights the invaluable benefits of increased staff diversity, and demonstrates how fostering creative potential affords new ways of thinking, - imagining and of connecting visitors with our exhibits and the broader environment. |
The Importance of Mentorship in an Aquarium – Illustrated by the Art of Operating a Life Support System
Tony McEwan, uShaka Sea World Watch Video (Login required) Full Abstract
South Africa does not have a reserve of qualified and experienced senior aquarists, as there are only two large public aquariums. Vocational studies in aquaculture, ichthyology and marine biology are available at tertiary education institutions, but there are no dedicated aquariology courses in the country. For this reason, uShaka Sea World is developing a project-based mentoring programme as part of its staff succession planning. Mentoring is seen as a way of transferring vocational and institutional knowledge from experienced to new staff members. Good mentors not only pass on their technical, managerial, interpretive, observation and problem solving skills, but also their integrity and ethics. Matching mentors to trainees will be critical to the success of the programme. We believe that a mentorship programme will help develop junior staff members who do not have the requisite academic qualifications or experience, for more specialised or senior positions in the aquarium. The benefits of the proposed mentorship programme are described in this presentation, using the example of an experienced aquarist teaching a new staff member the ‘ART’ of operating a Life Support System (LSS) in the aquarium. Where the aquarist does not only need knowledge and expertise, but also the appropriate attitude and values to ensure efficient and effective welfare of the animals in their care. The junior staff not only has to operate and manage equipment and systems they have to manage resultant water quality and the animals held in the exhibit. So technical, managerial, interpretive and experiential animal observation skills are passed on from the mentor. |