Sea Research Foundation

Dear Friends,

It was a pleasure to welcome to our campus Mr. Tan Hee Teck, President and CEO of Genting Singapore and Resort World Sentosa along with Genting Singapore Senior Vice President for Communications, Krist Boo this past Monday. As you know we have developed a long-term partnership with their Marine Life Park which will open in late 2012 and include a massive new aquarium and dolphin facility. 

It is always a privilege to showcase our facilities to others in the field, but never more so, when it is an international visitor. I am very grateful to Mr. Tan for his tremendous support of our mission and program. He told me during the visit that he and his company value “friendship first, then business.” As the pictures below show, it appears that he made some friends with our Beluga whales!

   

On Tuesday it was a great privilege to be with Trustees Clay Maitland and Carleen Lyden-Kluss in the Situation Room at United States Coast Guard Headquarters in Washington, DC. We were in the room to sign a Memorandum of Understanding between the United States Coast Guard and the North American Marine Environment Protection Association (NAMEPA) which Clay and Carleen founded, and which is a key partner-in-conservation with Sea Research Foundation. This agreement took five years to reach, but affirms NAMEPA as a key educational and conversation outreach program for the U.S. Coast Guard.

During the ceremony Admiral Brian Salerno was extremely complimentary of Carleen and Clay. He noted the important work that NAMEPA is doing in educating the maritime industry and recreational boaters on environmental matters.

This is my second recent meeting at Coast Guard Headquarters. At lunch after the ceremony I sat with Rear Admiral Paul Zunkuft who was responsible for Coast Guard operations during the Deepwater Horizon incident in the Gulf of Mexico two years ago. 

At Coast Guard Headquarters near Commandant Robert Papp’s Office, there is a haunting painting. It shows two human spirits diving into the ocean. Below them are a stormy sea and a ship in distress. The painting depicts a tragedy that occurred in Alaskan waters a few years ago, when two U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmers died at sea while trying to rescue the crew of a vessel.

I am struck each time I encounter the U.S. Coast Guard at the complexity and danger of their mission. They are deployed abroad in wartime and are currently protecting U.S. interests near Iran, at the heart of a major international threat. They are the primary agency responsible for interdiction of drug traffickers, certainly one of the most dangerous adversaries in the world. Every single day Coast Guard personnel rescue people from dangerous waters in good weather and bad.  As military personnel, members of the U.S. Coast Guard are frequently deployed for months or years at a time without seeing family. They are ordered to move frequently, and their pay and benefits are far less than civilians. They give their lives to guard America, and their motto, “Semper Paratus” truly reflects their ethos. They often deploy in the dark of night or at times when most would rather stay inside, to places no one else would dare to go, to keep us safe, to rescue us, to protect Americans from harm. They are, “Always Ready”.

Southeastern Connecticut is truly fortunate to be home to the United States Coast Guard Academy and other major U.S. Coast Guard assets. Sea Research Foundation is honored to work with the Coast Guard in many ways, including through NAMEPA, and through the U.S. Coast Guard Foundation which is based in Stonington, Connecticut. The men and women of the United States Coast Guard deserve our utmost respect and gratitude. I hope that leaders in our region will unabashedly join me in affirming the work of this great organization and thank them for being part of our region.

   

Congratulations to Executive Vice President Peter Glankoff and to our public relations partner, The Dilenschneider Group. They did an outstanding job.

Institute for Exploration President Dr. Robert D. Ballard gave very moving remarks not only on what he felt upon finding the RMS Titanic, but also on his experience of meeting with the families of people who perished on the ship. He reminded everyone that Titanic is a memorial that should be preserved, not desecrated.

Immediately after the event, Vice President for Education and Conservation Programs Kelly Matis and I left for the Association of Zoos and Aquariums Annual Directors’ Meeting in Miami. At the meeting we will be introducing several Aquarium CEO’s to our collaborative projects with Marine Life Park in Singapore. Then, in late January, Kelly and her family will travel to Singapore where she will be working with Marine Life Park for a month in the development of their education and conservation programs prior to their opening in late 2012.

At the press conference announcing the new exhibit, I stated that Mystic Aquarium is the largest cultural institution outside of Boston. We are barely 40 years old, but we are 4^th in attendance amongst all attractions in New England. The other two places include the Museum of Science and the Museum of Fine Arts, both in Boston, which have been in existence many decades longer and have the benefit of being located in a major metropolitan area. When we add our reach via our educational programs, we are by far the largest resource of our kind in New England, with global reach and impact.

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Thursday evening our staff and volunteers will celebrated at a dinner in their honor. While I was not able to be in attendance because of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums meetings, I want to express my profound gratitude to our team. Great institutions are built by people who care about their mission. We are a great institution and getting greater because of our team who are so committed and passionate in their work, every day. Thank you to each and every member of our staff and our volunteers, and to the thousands of members who support our work, for all that you do.