A new direction - A Fascination for Fish: Adventures of an Underwater Pioneer - page 315

afterward, however, the bottom fell out of the Boston real estate mar-
ket, the value of the existing site dropped, and the project was shelved.
When John Prescott retired, his successor, Jerry Schubel, called an-
other brainstorming meeting to develop a plan for the expansion of
the aquarium at its present site. This project continues, but sadly, John
Prescott did not live to see the completion of his dream; he lost a hard-
fought battle with cancer and died in July of 1998. Throughout his ca-
reer he had a major influence on the high standards of public aquari-
ums and marine education throughout the world. He will be greatly
missed.
I've worked on other consulting projects over the years, some small
and some large. Whether I accept work is determined both by the pro-
fessionalism of the participants and by my sense that the proposed fa-
cility will make a worthwhile contribution to increasing public aware-
ness of the world of water. Few things, in the end, are as exciting to
me as the possibility of a new aquarium that will open the eyes of new
audiences and inspire them to conserve the aquatic life of the streams,
lakes, and oceans of this, the Water Planet.
THOUGHTS UPON LOOKING BACK
A number of times I've been asked to name the best or biggest aquar-
ium in the world. Such questions are impossible to answer. What does
“best” really mean—most entertaining? most educational? having the
greatest variety of animals or the most accurate representations of real
habitats? As for size, do you judge that by square footage, the number
of exhibits, total volume of water, or annual attendance figures? The
“best” is probably the aquarium that has the greatest influence on its
audience, the one that stimulates visitors into action to protect our de-
teriorating environment—an influence that's impossible to confirm or
measure.
There's no such thing as the “ideal” aquarium. Each aquarium has
some excellent and some less-than-exciting features. Ultimately, the suc-
cess of an aquarium is greatly influenced by its location, the skill and
creativity of the architects, designers, and biologists, and, of course,
the level of financial backing.