Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council estotzatloh date December 1996 I Vol. 3NO.5 Alaska SeaLife Center to integrate public education with a working lab The Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward is scheduled to open in May of there. It could be at 1,000 feet or at 10 feet, but it 1998, combining one of the world's premier cold water research has to do with where the light penetrates, what facilities with one of the state's top tourist attractions. John Hendricks the dissolved oxygen is, what are the biological took over as the SeaLife Center's first director in September, after levels in it, plus the chemistry of the water and serving five years as executive director of the Texas State Aquarium. above all, what is the temperature. The advantage During a recent interview, he outlined his plans for meshing public education with scientific research. is you bring directly into your facility the habitat of the animals that you want to study. RD. The Alaska SeaLife Center is described RD. And Resurrection Bay is ideal. as the second marine facility of its type in the JH. The bottom of Resurrection Bay is like a John Hendricks world. Where is the other one? And what makes fjord. The sides are steep and the water is deep Alaska SeaLife Center these two facilities so different from others? and the ocean comes in its purestform. That's what JH. The first one is in a fjord in Norway and we're looking for. what makes both radically different is the RU. The SeaLife Center is getting a reputation temperature and the quality of the water. The already as a place where the scientists will be put one in Norway uses raw water from the fjord ... on display. Is that accurate? with direct cold-water feeding from 275 feet JH. That is very accurate, but it has also caused down. great concern among scientists. I can assure them RD. What's the big advantage of that? that they are not going to be trotted out like little JH. It's the quality of the water that comes out Continued on Page 2 This is the second in a series of articles describing how Exxon provided a bonus for taxpayers. Last July, Refuge Kodiak Valdez criminal and civil funds are being invested in the spill region. Manager Jay Bellinger surprised the borough The Cook Inlet region was covered in the October 1996 issue. Prince with a check for $240,000 in lieu of taxes on the Restoration William Sound will be featured in the next issue. 109,000 acres acquired by the refuge in 1995. omrnercial fishers, outdoor recreationists Continued on Page 4 benefits Cand taxpayers are beginning to feel the benefits from hundreds of millions of dollars island being spent within the Kodiak Island Borough as part of restoration efforts using Exxon Valdez residents civil and criminal funds. Approximately 60 percent of the spill area and wildlife habitat targeted for protection can be found on Kodiak, Afognak and Shuyak islands. Nearly 335,000 acres have already been protected, much of it added to the Kodiak National Wildlife Refuge or developed into the new Afognak Island State Park. This not only helps protect anadromous rivers and open up private land to fishing, The forested mountains of Afognak Island as seen from Shuyak hunting, hiking and camping, but it has also Island. Alaska SeaLife Center Continued from Page 1 ponies or showdogs and go around the ring and do their little act. The reason they are there is to first of all do science. They're not there to entertain people all day. Typically in science, exciting things don't happen every day. They happen periodically. So what we want to do is capture "The advantage is those high moments using an electronic mediumand to capture the SeaLife Center the moments when a scientist has people here feels most comfortable, talking The Alaska SeaLife Center is scheduled to open in May 1998. about his or her work. Then we who will be able can use the electronic medium we can have several species of going to be mixed with the mam­ and use graphics to portray their Alaska crab. Whenpeople come mals and the avians, not in the to support the work, focus on their work and to Alaska and they want to see same container, but in the same scientist. That what it means to Alaska and the Alaska, what do you think of? space. GulfofAlaska, and whatitmeans King crab. So you're going to go from an takes the scientist to science in general, put those RU. I'd also like to see a big octopus over here to the crabs things on display and let the sci­ halibut in its environment. over there to the sea lion to the away from the entist go back to his office or her JH. We're trying to figure out seal to the birds. You're really mechanics and office and work. where to put a big halibut in its going to be looking under the Those who say they don't environment. The best place to waters of the Gulf of Alaska. It's the maintenance want to do their research there put it is in with the birds. It's going to be a really neat thing. because they don't want to be a good for the halibut, but we're We've got to figure out a way to and the business showdog, they don't have to not quite sure it's good for the get some kelp in there or manu­ of it and lets the worry about it. birds. But we're looking, where facture artificial kelp if the ani­ RU. So will there be live inter­ do we put a halibut and where mals keep eating it. scientist focus on action between scientists and the can we put the biggest halibut RU, Will there literally be a public? we can handle. We're looking window under the sea where the the science. " JH. There can be if the scien­ because a flounder is a flounder, public will be able to look directly tistis comfortable with it. Butjust but a halibut, now that's an im­ under Resurrection Bay? for a minute put yourself in the pressive flatfish. That's Alaska. JH. The Japanese did this at shoes of the SeaLife Center. From I don't know of anyone else Nagoya and other places and the middle of May to the middle who has a king crab. I've got to what they found was that unless of September, there's going to be go to the experts and ask have they fed the fish, you could sit from 1,000 to 3,000 people com­ you ever tried this? Do you have there all day long and not see ing through the door every day. reports I can borrow? Has this anything. It's the same problem I mean, who's going to get to see ever been done with king crab with the scientists. The scientist the scientists? I think for the per­ and halibut? And we can't do does something really super in­ sonal interviews with the scien­ this without an octopus. teresting maybe every couple tists, we'll probably reserve that RU. The more things you weeks. Well that's notenough for for groups (for example, college mention here, the bigger the the 3,000 people you havein there classes) on a scheduled basis. aquarium is getting. each day. Theywant to seeit now. RU. How are you going to sat­ JH. Not really. The three So we capture whatthey do or we isfy the pUblic's curiosity about things we talked about are right replicate it and we put together marine life? The public has come there. The place for them all is the whole interesting package to expect trained seals and jump­ in one room. Standing in one that for a scientist and his project ing dolphins and big aquariums. room I could tum around and might take three years. The pub­ JH. As far as big aquariums, look at every one of them. This lic will get it in three minutes in we're going to have a big is in addition to the mammals video and graphics. They're go­ aquarium. We're looking at how andbirds. The invertebrates are ing to get it concentrated. 'lJecel11.6ez 1996 'Restoza.tio1t CZ{pda.u ?:,a'je3 II RU. What about the marine price possible. group is going be what we call mammals? Will they actuallybe RU. How will the scientists the rubber tire traffic from on display? pay their way? Will they be outside of Alaska. I could sit at JH. What we're doing is charged set fees? the border point near Beaver replicating the envirorunent they JH. They have to bring their Creek and meet most of our live in. It's going to be a very own grants. The advantage is customers as they come through familiar place to a sea lion. We'll the SeaLife Center has people customs. be putting sea lions back into here who will be able to support RU. Will the SeaLife Center be something that is very much like the scientist. That takes the a tourism destination in itself or their home. The hauloutswillbe scientist away from the will it be another thing to do for sculpted just like the haulouts mechanics and the maintenance those people going to Seward? out there.