Celebrating our 13th Anniversary

Today marks the 13th anniversary of our opening.  Our journey has been a remarkable story of perseverance - there are many times, especially in the early years, when our future was uncertain and yet we continued to prevail and become ever more significant in this great State!  We have a souvenir book in production which will describe key milestones and share the stories of the people involved (should be in the print by June).

On anniversaries, I find it worthwhile to pause to reflect for a moment on where we have been and where we are going.   Last year, we assembled a few key statistics for one of our inaugural sponsors, the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trust Council (EVOSTC).  The initial capital investment of $26.2m by EVOSTC in 1994 has:

• leveraged nearly $200m of additional capital investment and ongoing research and education funding
• resulted in 220 peer reviewed publications and over 600 other publications and provided education about the marine ecosystem of Alaska to more than 2 million visitors and some 200,000 school children
• employed over 900 people (current staff of 95 FTE), 300 interns and more than 1,000 volunteers, and trained 36 postgraduate students (24 MSc/12 PhD) as well as a generation of schoolchildren through the world of work program, Sea Train and other nationally recognized education activities
• rescued, treated or rehabilitated some 250 marine mammals and over 600 seabirds through our strandings program

These extraordinary accomplishments are due to an inspired and ever growing army of SeaLife supporters.  From political champions such as the late Senator Ted Stevens to our brilliant Board and Scientific Advisory Committee members, from our standout staff to our inquistive interns and vivacious volunteers, and from our many magnificent members to our fabulous Facebook followers, literally tens of thousands of people have come together to enable us to realize the vision of the pioneers of this institution.

Many of those pioneers have made the SeaLife Center a central part of their life's work.  That is especially true of current Seward Mayor Willard Dunham who recalls the importance of the SeaLife Center to rebuilding the waterfront of Seward after the devastaion of the 1964 earthquake.  Other supporters such as the late Governor Wally Hickel were instrumental in securing political support for the Center at the highest levels.  It was especially timely today that we hosted a visit by Mrs Ermaleee Hickel who toured the Center and, at every exhibit, fondly recalled Wally's passion for our work.  Governor and Mrs Hickel were foundation supporters of the Center and so it was wonderful to show Mrs Hickel just what we continue to accomplish as a consequence of their vision.

Mrs Ermalee Hickel with Nancy Anderson on the soon to be opened Walter and Ermalee Hickel Overlook.

We thank all of you for your generosity and support. But we know that we cannot rest on our laurels. With rapidly declining Federal marine science funding, constantly evolving species management and climate change-related issues and in the face of a challenging national economy, we are continuing to sharpen our mission focus to ensure that all we do is directly relevant to stewardship of the North Pacific.  Just over a year ago, the Board adopted our 2020 strategic plan (Deep Blue), which will guide our next decade of development. I encourage you all to read the plan and to continue to help us reach the six priority goals that will sustain our work long into the future.

Again, happy anniversary!