One hundred years old!  That was the theme on everyone’s lips when I arrived here in April to take over the directorship. A time of excitement, and a time of reflection on the achievements of the past century.  In our 100-year-history, we have touched the lives of many millions of people, bringing both Hawaii residents and visitors face to face with the marine life of the Pacific through education, entertainment, research and conservation. We have had numerous firsts in aquarium husbandry and exhibitry, and an enviable research record. 

We should always remain aware of our glorious past, but I want us also to consider our exciting future. I believe visitors come to the aquarium primarily to see living animals, and it is my aim to provide them with more experiences and introductions to the amazing marine life of these islands. So, as we enter our second century, the theme will be change – not change for change’s sake, but change aimed at improvement and expansion; renewed exhibits, more exhibits, new exhibits. Of course, these changes will be underpinned by our role in educating about the diversity, ecology and conservation of the marine life of the Pacific.

These changes are already underway. For the past few months we have displayed bearded armorheads - the only ones of their kind on display anywhere in the U.S.  And in the next few months we will open our brand new Pacific clam exhibit, and unveil a display of South American freshwater stingrays. Beyond that, we’re planning a new sea jelly gallery and future outdoor areas, including a new marine turtle exhibit and a secure children’s play area.

Our education programs continue to be popular and successful - ask any one of the over 32,000 Hawaii schoolchildren who visited with their schools this past year, or the participants in our Shark Night and Sea Jelly Night sleepovers, or the preschoolers in our Small Fry classes.

Increased husbandry and research activities are also on the agenda. We will focus more on captive breeding efforts, to expand upon our enviable record of successes in the past.  For example, we were the first aquarium in the U.S., and second worldwide, to breed the chambered nautilus Nautilus belauensis, but no one has succeeded in rearing the young beyond 1 year of age – increased attention will be paid towards achieving this. Meanwhile, efforts are also underway to breed N. pompilius. And as I write this, our leafy sea dragons are spawning for the first time. The young male, however, is not receptive to the female’s efforts to plant eggs on his brood patch, and so we will research on conditioning the male before their next breeding attempt.

So it is a time of change and a time of excitement at the Waikiki Aquarium, an experience in which I hope the local community and beyond will all share … because most impressive to me has been the many people who wrote, telephoned, or who personally expressed to me how important the aquarium is to them and to Hawaii, and to offer their good wishes for its future success. With such sentiments and broad-based community support the Waikiki Aquarium will surely advance its commitment to becoming an even better educational and economic resource for Hawaii.

Mahalo!

Yours cordially,

Dr. Andrew Rossiter.

Director