ASLC joins AMMPA

I was delighted to join Brett Long (ASLC Director of Husbandry) this week to attend the Annual Meeting of the Alliance of Marine Mammal Parks and Aquariums (AMMPA) held in Alexandria, VA. 

AMMPA is an international association representing more than 60 marine life parks, aquariums, zoos, research facilities, and professional organizations dedicated to the highest standards of care for marine mammals and to their conservation in the wild through public education, scientific study, and wildlife presentations - see http://www.ammpa.org/ for full details of the membership and work of AMMPA.

At the meeting, we made a presentation to secure membership of AMMPA and we were one of four new members provisionally accepted at the 2010 meeting.  Members were particularly impressed by our strong research and education programs as well as our high standards of animal care.

The next step in the process is for the Center to be visited by a  team of AMMPA inspectors who will undertake a thorough review of our facilities, systems, practices and staff capacity to ensure we meet their demanding standards - we must complete that process before the next AMMPA Annual Meeting in April 2011. 

This is a key step in our long-term commitment to continually meet global best practice standards in all areas of center operations - our standards are already high, but through the AMMPA network we have the opportunity to more actively engage with our many peers in the aquarium industry and to contribute our unique skills and experience.  At the meeting, Brett and I held numerous sidebar meetings with many of the 90+ industry leaders in attendance who work on Alaska marine mammals and it was clear there is much interest in working more closely with us!

Please let Brett or myself know if you'd like to know more about AMMPA or our overall accreditation processes.