Aquarium suffers loss of cutting-edge research

Editor’s note: This is an abridged version of a letter submitted to the University of Hawaii president.

I was hired by, and worked directly under, Andy Rossiter. The public should be very concerned about the management of the Waikiki Aquarium. I lasted six months there. Prior to joining the Aquarium staff, I had never been fired.

Dr. Rossiter has stated that he has no idea why the giant clams, which are thought to live for more than 100 years, suddenly died. I had been informed that several inappropriate changes had been made to the tank last year, including covering the exhibit with shade cloth and adding excessive nutrients in the form of plankton to the system.

Rossiter inherited a highly skilled and extremely productive staff from his predecessor, Bruce Carlson. Under past directors, Waikiki Aquarium was a world leader in the care and breeding of difficult species such as giant clams, nautilus and corals. Very few aquariums in the world have done work of this caliber, and the Waikiki Aquarium was the leader. Cutting-edge research and peer-reviewed papers were published. Today, research has dropped to near zero. 

Rossiter dismisses the need for accreditation with the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. He claims that the loss of revenue from becoming an AZA member would be too much of a financial burden, because he then would have to allow free admission for Honolulu Zoo members. This is a red herring. According to AZA’s website (www.aza.org/reciprocity/), the reciprocity program is optional.

One benefit of belonging to AZA is that by adhering to its professional standards, animal care logs are created. Another benefit is that the staff would belong to a professional international network of peers whom they can ask if a particular change in care is even appropriate.  

An internal university animal-welfare inspection is not the same thing as a professional, independent Aquarium and Zoo inspection done by outside experts who specialize in rare and challenging animals. 

For me, a huge concern was grant management. When I was at the Waikiki Aquarium, we had several federal grants that could have been, but were not, completed on time. 

Until now, discussion of these issues has remained largely behind closed doors and ineffective. Many former employees had filed grievances against Dr. Rossiter, but nothing ever came of them. Perhaps now that two former directors of the Aquarium have spoken out about their concerns, we can have an open discussion. The public deserves to know what is going on.