The Journal of GEORGIA AQUARIUM

26 Pages·2016·14.8 MB·English

The Journal of GEORGIA AQUARIUM
2015 ANNUAL REPORT
Georgia Aquarium is a leading non-profit dedicated to aquatic science that engages
humanity in the care and preservation of the natural world. We do this by helping
people see the world differently, whether it’s amazing our guests with up-close
encounters with the largest variety of aquatic life in North America, or sharing
our insights with others in the global scientific community that lead to important
discoveries. We believe we can make a difference by showing how humankind,
aquatic animals and the world’s waters are connected and inspiring people to action.
While we strive to entertain our guests by enabling them to come face-to-face with
whales, penguins and thousands of other aquatic animals, Georgia Aquarium is
just as committed to our values of education, outreach, research and conservation.
TABLE
of
CONTENTS
2015 ANNUAL REPORT
2
F LASHBACK
Our 10-Year Impact
by Mike Leven, Chairman and CEO, Georgia Aquarium
4
SPONSORED EDUCATION ADMISSIONS
Our Sponsored Education Admissions program
allows students from Georgia’s Title I schools free
or reduced admission to the Aquarium, ensuring
that all students, regardless of life circumstance,
have access to our resources.
8
VETERANS IMMERSION PROGRAM
Georgia Aquarium is committed to serving the brave men
and women who have served us. The Veterans Immersion
Program enables injured military personnel to experience
the healing properties of water, as they swim and dive
in our 6.3 million-gallon Ocean Voyager exhibit.
12
RESEARCH and CONSERVATION
With our extraordinary collection comes a responsibility
to understand and protect these species. We do that
through research — in an aquarium setting and around
the world — as we help to conserve the ocean’s fragile
environment and the organisms that live within it.
16
SPONSORS and DONORS
20
LOOKING AHEAD
FLASHBACK
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Perfect
WHAT AN AMAZING
10 YEARS THIS HAS
BEEN FOR ALL OF US AT
GEORGIA AQUARIUM.
AS I LOOK BACK,
I AM AWED BY THE
Sea Change
IN OUR WAKE.
I AM SO GRATIFIED
BY ALL THAT WE’VE
ACCOMPLISHED, AND
SO ENCOURAGED
ABOUT WHAT
LIES AHEAD.
by Mike Leven
Chairman and CEO
Georgia Aquarium
2015 ANNUAL REPORT 3
THE EVIDENCE OF OUR
SUCCESS IS AS CLEAR AS
OUR AQUARIUM’S WATERS
Our thousands of wondrous And those are our most Georgia Aquarium exists
marine animals, more than visible signs of success. to protect and conserve the
100 exhibits across seven There have been many beauty of aquatic life and
+
major galleries and more other contributions of which to share the power of the 1 0
than 24 million visitors who we are immensely proud. underwater world in a way
have entered our doors. Our Sponsored Education that will inspire commitment
And then look outside Admissions Program has for generations to come.
our doors. Georgia Aquarium provided free or reduced Without your
million
has led the urban resurgence admission to more than commitment, none of this
around Centennial Olympic 250,000 students at Title would be possible. Thank you
Park. We are a major City I schools. Our Veterans for joining us on this journey,
of Atlanta employer and Immersion Program has for these 10 incredible years, GALLONS OF WATER,
MAKING GEORGIA AQUARIUM
generator of out-of-state enabled more than 1,600 and for what is sure to be an
ONE OF THE WORLD’S
revenues. Ours has been military personnel and exciting sea change ahead. LARGEST AQUARIUMS
a very positive fiscal impact veterans to experience the
for our community. healing properties of water.
And our extraordinary Mike Leven
Chairman and CEO
research efforts are helping Georgia Aquarium
to conserve and protect the 50/143/6
waters of the world and the
animals that inhabit them.
“TOP ” GUESTS FROM ALL 50 STATES AND
143 COUNTRIES ON SIX CONTINENTS
ANIMAL AT OPENING, HAVE VISITED THE AQUARIUM
ATTRACTION MORE
— FamilyFun magazine
AQUATIC LIFE
THAN ANY OTHER AQUARIUM
AT THE TIME
— Guinness Book of World Records
2005
GEORGIA AQUARIUM AND ITS AFFILIATE ORGANIZATIONS
ARE COMMITTED TO EDUCATING, INSPIRING AND
ENTERTAINING CURRENT AND FUTURE GENERATIONS.
TOGETHER, EACH OF THESE ENTITIES INSPIRE THE CONSERVATION
OF THE WORLD’S AQUATIC BIODIVERSITY AND CONDUCT IMPACTFUL
CONSERVATION AND RESEARCH PROGRAMS TO HELP THESE ANIMALS.
+
1 0
BEST
million
NORTH AMERICAN
AQUARIUM 6.3 million
— USA Today
GALLONS OF WATER,
MAKING GEORGIA AQUARIUM
ONE OF THE WORLD’S
GALLONS OF WATER, MAKING
LARGEST AQUARIUMS
OCEAN VOYAGER ONE OF THE WORLD’S
LARGEST INDOOR AQUATIC HABITATS
50/143/6
GUESTS FROM ALL 50 STATES AND
143 COUNTRIES ON SIX CONTINENTS
HAVE VISITED THE AQUARIUM
24+
AQUARIUM IN
THE U.S. AND
#2 AQUARIUM million
IN THE WORLD
— 2015 TripAdvisor
Travelers’ Choice awards
NUMBER OF VISITORS TO
GEORGIA AQUARIUM SINCE OPENING
OUR DOORS IN 2005
2015
SPONSORED
EDUCATION
ADMISSIONS
OPENING NEW WORLDS 
FOR OUR CHILDREN
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or a child, to stand before a larger-than-life ocean is a wondrous
sight — but it is a wonder not all children will experience. Ninety
percent of Georgia’s students at Title I schools have never seen the
ocean. At Georgia Aquarium, it is part of our mission to help these
young children experience firsthand the marvels of the living sea.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Our Sponsored Education Admissions (SEA) program institution in Atlanta, we feel compelled to close that
allows students from Title I schools to come into gap by making our resources — and the awe-inspiring
the Aquarium and to encounter the wonders of the experiences that take place here — accessible to all
aquatic world — free of charge. “For so many students students in our state.”
statewide, there is an inequity in accessibility to Such access is critical for our children’s educa-
resources,” says Kristyn Tumbleson, Director of tion. Every day in school, children are reading about
Education at Georgia Aquarium. “As an anchor science, technology and math, but when they enter
2015 ANNUAL REPORT 5
Inside Georgia Aquarium, there are
200 unique careers alone. “Seeing these
different career paths shows children that
what they’re learning in the classroom
really could lead to something real and tan-
gible one day,” says Kristyn. “We need the best
and brightest minds — from children of all back-
grounds, from all socioeconomic levels — to one day
be innovating, inventing and solving the problems
that our world faces.”
Georgia Aquarium, all that they’ve read in textbooks To that end, Georgia Aquarium is making sure
truly comes alive. They see more than 10 million that all students are able to witness firsthand these
gallons of water. They come face-to-face with amazing creatures and the immense technology
whales, penguins and thousands of other aquatic behind our Aquarium’s walls. For a young mind,
animals. “It all looks very different when experienc- these “aha” moments can be transformative, and
ing it in person,” says Kristyn. “They see that what every student deserves to experience those — not just
they’re learning in the classroom is being done in the the students whose families can afford the cost of
field every day — in really cool ways. It awakens their admission.
minds. It ignites their curiosity.” “We’re really in the business of opening students’
“One of the favorite parts of my job is seeing a eyes to the art of the possible,” says Kristyn. “They
student’s eyes light up for the first time when they come to the Aquarium and see worlds and careers
see a whale shark. All of a sudden the questions they never knew existed. That’s life changing. That’s
start running through their mind: What do they eat, a future veterinarian, chemist, biologist or engineer
where do they live in the natural world, that otherwise would not have been born.”
how do we take care of them, and
what about this window, how is The Sponsored Education Admissions program is funded
that constructed? So, by the time Watch and learn entirely by private donors. During the 2015–2016 school
more about the
they leave that gallery, they’ve year, we served nearly 50,000 students from Title I schools.
Sponsored Education
asked questions in the realms of Admissions program at There are one million more we hope to reach. With your
chemistry, biology, technology, GeorgiaAquarium.org/ help, we can open our doors, and a world of possibility, to
SupportSEA.
engineering, math and more.” these children who need it most.
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