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Wednesday, March 30, 1988/The BattalioaTage 7
sea World prepares for opening
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By Elisa Hutchins
Staff Writer
I Kandu the killer whale has
[plashed down at what’s being called
lie largest marine-life park in the
[ount.'v as Sea World of Texas gets
[eady for its scheduled opening
pril 15 in San Antonio.
Locally, the Bryan-College Station
hamber of Commerce is receiving
tveral calls asking for more infor-
lation on the park.
“We’re getting three to four
ihone calls a week to find out about
a World,” Chamber of Commerce
[fficial Kim Autrey said. ‘There is
n interest in the park locally, but I
laven’tseen that much media cover-
;e.”
Sea World officials ar e banking on
It least 70 percent to 80 percent of
(heir first year business coming from
exas, Oklahoma and Louisiana,
leoige Stalle, manager ol public re
lations at Sea World, said.
“Not only is Sea World an enter-
linment park,” Stalle said, “but we
re also an educational outlet on sea
|fe and conservation.
“Over three million childr en have
assed through the three other
yikv It s like a huge classroom
-here kids can get hands-on knowl
edge of mar ine life
“Right now oui main concern is to
Jet the park open. But when the
has been operating lor a while,
ilahs could be made to set up a Sea
iVorld Institute for research in Tex-
Stalle said this effort could involve
)ther research programs, such as
rniversity-sponsored marine re-
jearth programs, quite possibly in-
luding T exas A&M.
Sea World at San Diego helped to
[stablish ihe Hubbs Research Insti-
ute Center, a 25-year-old non
profit, independent facility that has
hspired serveral joint efforts be-
ween the park, San Diego State and
s that if^eUniversity of San Diego.
Don Kent director ol Hubbs, said
he facility currently is working on a
proposal for Sea World of Texas on
he different research interests in
Texas.
He said if a research institute is es-
ablished, it also will be independent
>f the park, and Sea World’s ad
vanced facilities and equipment
:ould aid researchers in the state
greatly.
“I anticipate quite a few possibili
ties for research,” Kent said. “One
irea is the endangered species of sea
turtles.
Photo by Jay Jaimer
An endangered Kemp ridley turtle gets weighed as part of A&M’s
efforts to save the population from extinction.
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“That could be a popular pro
gram in Texas and something that
ould get the institute or any joint ef-
brts in motion. It would be some-
hing that is identifiable with Texas.”
Kent said A&M researchers have
lone extensive work specifically with
he Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, an en-
iangered turtle species found in
Texas.
He said the possibilities are very
good for collaborative work.
But both Kent and Stalle said tins
is in the future and that the main
problem now is to get the par k open.
The T exas Sea World will open in
tcity that is already the tourist capi-
alof the state — San Antonio.
The $140 million marine park will
over 250 acres in northwest San
Antonio
it will have 20 educational exhib
its and six different attractions such
is dolphin and killer-whale shows.
Stalle said no expenses have been
ipared in publicizing the opening of
he fourth Sea World park in the
Sea World may help A&M marine research
By Elisa Hutchins
Staff Writer
Sea World of Texas could boost
the state’s economy by as much as $ 1
billion a year while enhancing ma
rine research at Texas colleges and
universities and Texas A&M could
be one of the schools involved, said
Don Kent, director of the Sea
World/Hubbs Research Institute
Center in San Diego.
“If I was in Texas, I would be very
excited about the research possibli-
ties that Sea World and a center
could offer marine researchers,”
Kent said.
Hubbs is a non-profit and inde
pendent center from Sea World, but
they have a close relationship. Kent
said the center is working on a pro
posal concerning Texas research in
terests that will be sent to Sea World
of Texas in a few weeks.
“T he center performs research
and informs the scientific public as
well as the general public. Kent
said. “But out biggest strong point is
that we can carry out long-term ex
periments. And while it is still up in
the air as to whether Texas will have
such a center, it will pi obably be
modeled aftei ours.”
He said the 27 researchers at Sea
World/Hubbs are professors at or
have very strong ties with the univer
sity community.
Thane Wibbles, a research assis
tant who is working at A&M with Dr.
David Ow'ens in his study of Kemp
ridley turtles (an endangered species
of sea turtles found in Texas), said
that Sea World/Hubbs already has
contacted Owens by letter and estab
lished some ties.
“A&M is probably one of only two
schools in the world that is conduct
ing research on hormonal and re
productive behaviors of the Kemp’s
ridley right now^,” Wibbles said. “Sea
World will have Kemp’s ndleys at
their park, and they wanted to get
the lines of communication open.”
He said a lot is still unknown
about the Kemp s ridley but it can
weigh up to 100 pounds. Females
can take up to 50 years to mature.
Wibbles said Owens and his assis
tants are doing secondary research
on the turtles with monies from Sea
Grant. Sea Grant designates federal,
state and donated funds to universi
ties. Texas A&M is in the grant pro
gram.
Thomas Bright, director of the
Sea Grant program at A&M, said the
grant enables schools to carry out re
search and enhances conservation
efforts.
A&M received about $3.5 million
from the grant for this fiscal year
and earmarked $100,000 for the
Kemp’s ridley research project
“We welcome any additional
funding or help from Sea World or
any other research body. Tic said
“The Kemp ridleys sole nesting site
is on the (hilt of Mexico tabout 100
miles south of Brownsville). T here
used to be thousands of turtles in the
1940s, but now there are only about
500 known breeding females.”
Bright said there h^is been a con
certed effort between Mexico, the
Lhiited States, Sea Grant, National
Marine Services and Texas Park
Services to rebuild the population.
T he program started 10 years ago
and is headquatered in Galveston.
Wibbles said researchers at “Head
Start,” one such program to bolster
the population, gather eggs from the
Mexican breeding site and bring
them to South Padre Island to hatch.
They allow them to hatch in their
environment and take the hatchlings
to Galveston, where they are nur
tured for a year.
' The turtles are let go on a stretch
of the South Padre beaches in the
hopes that the females will return to
the same site to lay their eggs.
“The effects of this program will
not be determined for a few more
years because it takes turtles 8 to 15
years to mature,” he said. “Our re
search is’secondary to this in that we
study the turtle’s reproductive proc
esses by conducting hormonal and
behavioral research.”
He said that “£iead Start” has
been good for the turtle population
but that the population is not bounc
ing back as fast as was expected.
“In order for conservation efforts
to be successful, we have to try to an
swer the question of how sea turtles
behave and how they reproduce,”
Wibbles said.
He said there has been some in
terest in captive breeding facilities
like the farms in the Cayman Islands
and that Sea World possibly could
provide some assistance.
Some researchers said the large
numbers of turtles that once inhab
ited the Gull of Mexico have all but
vanished due to fishing expansion
along the coast where factories used
to slaughter the turtles and ship the
meat to other cities.
Wibbles said that Texas shrimp
ing boats also have contributed to
the decline.
“Shrimping boats are trapping
these t urtles in their nets that are on
the ocean bottom,” he said. “The
turtle is a mammal and needs to
breathe. When one is trapped on the
bottom, it drowns. And even though
a shrimper may trap only one turtle
in five years, the population is so low
now that even one turtle is too high.”
He said that laws have been
passed requiring shrimping boats to
use TEDS — turtle excluder devices
— that provide a trap door for the
trapped turtle to escape from once it
is caught in the net.
These efforts slowly are bringing
back the turtle population in Texas
and Kent of Sea World/Hubbs said it
is this type of research that will pro
vide the backdrop for Sea World’s
resources.
Dr. James Mathewson, director
for the center for marine studies at
San Diego State University, said that
Sea World provides them with
equipment, vessels and laboratories
that the school would not be able to
afford otherwise.
“We get back 10 times what we
put into it,” he said. “We pay
$40,000 a year to belong to this pro
gram and get back at least $400,000
worth of services. We would not be
able to do the work we’re doing if it
weren’t for Sea World’s resources.”
the Rep a)Uli!! v
The others are located in Califor
nia, Florida and Ohio.
The park is spending more than
$5 million in advertising and is re
ceiving $30 million in free promotio
nal advertising from companies such
as Pepsi and Kodak. These compa
nies will be selling their products at
Sea World.
Sales offices have been established
in Chicago, Dallas and Houston.
Representatives also are out promot
ing the new park in Europe, Mexico,
Canada and Central America.
Stalle said that two specially
equipped buses have been criss
crossing the country promoting the
latest addition to the Sea World fam
ily.
One of the buses came through
Bryan-College Station on March 17
to drop off information and get peo
ple interested in the San Antonio
park.
Sea W’orld of Fexas chairman and
former Sea World of San Diego
president George Becker said, “We
hope that news of the park will reach
everyone in T exas by the time the
park opens.”
But Stalle said that the best public
ity is coming from the media.
News of the arrival of Kandu, a
7,000-pound killer whale, drew
statewide attention from newspapers
and television.
Kandu arrived March 14 with 31
other sea animals aboard a 747 char
ter jet at Kelly Air Force Base in San
Antonio. The plane was coming
from Sea World in San Diego.
Kandu’s new home is Shamu Sta
dium, a 7-million-gallon exhibit
pool. Kandu joins Shamu, another
female killer whale, and Namu, a
male whale.
“The modern-day Noah’s ark
posed no problems for the mam
mals,” Stalle said. “The animals have
adapted quite well to their new envi
ronment and we had no problems in
transporting them.”
Kandu’s companions on the flight
included seven dolphins, nine har
bor seals, five walruses and six
sharks.
Stalle said the flight was part of
“Splash Down ’88,” a series of flights
to bring all the creatures to the park.
The completed park will contain
the following attractions:
® Shamu Stadium, a 4,500-seat
theater-in-the-round with a 264-foot
diameter dome that is home to the
killer whales.
• Multi-species Stadium. It will
house Pacific black whales and be
luga whales in a similar exhibit pool.
• Water Ski Lake. Professional
skiers w ill perform tricks on a 12-
acre lake.
® Reef Presentation. Aquatic life
from tropical seas presented in four
aquariums, including a 400,000-gal
lon shark exhibit.
• Whale and Dolphin Touching
and Feeding Pool. Guests are en
couraged to pet and feed dolphins
and pilot whales.
The park will be open seven days
a week from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.
We Service Imports Too!
Auto Service
111 Royal Biyan
across S. College from Tom’s BBQ
846-5344
This Ad is Good for $5 OFF any Service or Repair
Not valid with any other coupon or discount
expires 5-15-88
IMPORTED BEER SPECIAL
^, Wednesday 7-closing
18 Imported Beers
on Special
nearLuby's
^ jIh,, 846-2625
MEAT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER
DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SCIENCE
$2.49 per lb.
LAMB LEG ROASTS (4-7 lbs.)
CURED & SMOKED HAMS
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BONELESS (3-8 lbs.)
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Other Beef, Lamb, Pork, Sausage, Dairy products and Farm Fresh Eggs are
available. Prices effective through April 3,1988. We are open for business
Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. We are located on the
West Campus between the Kleberg Center and the Horticulture/Forest Sci
ence Building. (Phone 845-5651).
UFA
University Pediatric Association
1328 Memorial Dr. • Bryan
Full Range ol Medical Service
for College Students
including
Gynecological Services
(Dr Kathleen Rollins)
Call for appointment 776-4440 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
extended hours for illnesses only
William S. Conkling, M. D.,F.A.A.P.
Kenneth E. Matthews, M.D.,F.A.A.P.
Jesse W. Parr, M.D.,F.A.A.P.
Kathleen H. Rollins, M.D.,F.A.A.P.
Robert H. Moore, M.D.,F.A.A.P.
CASINO *88
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Parents weekend
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Tickets on sale:
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Coupon
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