Century of the sea

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

The Waikiki Aquarium's indoor tank shows the colorful life of a reef with scores of sea creatures. The facility's aquatic animals have grown in numbers from 400 in 1904 to around 2,500 today. Centennial celebrations include a Family Fun Day, presentations by aquarium directors and a 100th Birthday Bash. Photos by Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

Pu'ohala School first-graders and chaperones watch a shark through a viewing dome in the Henry E. Damon Shark Gallery at the aquarium. Like the dome, the aquarium acts as a window to the diversity of life in the ocean.

The Honolulu Aquarium, as it was then known, opened in 1904, at the end of a trolley line. Some visitors arrived on horseback. Advertiser library photo

Gwen Tinker took her charge very seriously and, with the help of a household employee, did whatever she could to hold the fort. Naturally, she was horrified when one night she awoke to the realization that the aquarium's water pump — its salt-water lifeline — had stopped running.

Tinker tried in vain to prime the pump herself, but as hours passed, the futility of her efforts became more and more apparent. Desperate, she called the fire department.

"So they come down here, in the middle of the night," says Cindy Hunter, the aquarium's interim director. "They take their hoses offshore and somehow manage to get the priming tower refilled with sea water.

"The pump got started, and ... (Tinker) saved the fish for the children of Hawai'i," Hunter says.

Gwen Tinker died last year, but her story remains a favorite among the staff and volunteers of the aquarium. And for good reason. Institutions, especially those of the chronically underfunded, serially under-appreciated stripe — don't last a century without a little luck, a lot of dedication and, as Tinker demonstrated, a deep reservoir of pluck.

The aquarium celebrates its 100th anniversary this week with a trio of events (see box) taking full advantage of the facility's most impressive resources — a long history of innovative research, close associations with well-known marine experts and, of course, its location near Waikiki's living reef.

The festivities begin Sunday with the O! What an Experience Family Fun Day, an all-day party with games, crafts, food and entertainment. On March 18, Hunter joins past aquarium directors Leighton Taylor and Bruce Carlson for Celebrating 100 Years of Science — On the Edge, a look back at some of the institution's most entertaining moments of discovery. The next evening, the aquarium opens its doors for a concert with The Makaha Sons and a tasting fair with food from several local restaurants.

In addition to this week's events, the aquarium will continue to celebrate its centennial year with ongoing Animal of the Month events, and with exhibits, feedings, docent talks, kids tattoos and other programming centered around a select ocean creature.

The anniversary events are an excellent excuse for folks like Diane Oi, 41, of Hawai'i Kai to get further reacquainted with an attraction that, until last week, she hadn't visited since she was in grade school.

"If I weren't bringing people, I don't know if I would have thought about coming," said Oi, who was playing tour guide to a group of friends from Washington.

The aquarium draws roughly the same number of tourists, but only a fourth of the number of local visitors, as the nearby Honolulu Zoo, according to incoming director Andrew Rossiter. In fact, an estimated 60 to 70 percent of the aquarium's 320,000 visitors each year are tourists.

"It's really bizarre," says Rossiter. The aquarium "has got a

tremendous international reputation for its innovations and husbandry techniques, etc., but apparently not so much here. I think a lot of it is familiarity. It's right on the doorstep. You pass it every day. Why bother going there?"

(The aquarium's nearly 3,600 member households could probably provide the answer to that one.)

All of the aquarium's exhibits focus in some way on the diversity of the aquatic, shoreline and coral reef habitats found in Hawai'i and the Pacific. Among the numerous offerings are "Diversity and Adaptation," "Hawaiian Monk Seal Habitat" and "The Reef Machine." "Hunters on the Reef" is a 3,500-gallon exhibit housing Hawaiian sharks and jacks. "The Jet Set" features the fascinating cephalopod mollusks — the nautilus, cuttles, squid and octopus.

The third-oldest aquarium in the United States, the Waikiki Aquarium has an institutional resumé full of groundbreaking work. It was not only the first to exhibit living coral (a major accomplishment), but the first to showcase mahimahi, sea snakes, a nautilus and other marine life. It's also home to the oldest and largest clams anywhere.

Sadly, the impression many locals still have of the aquarium is the same one Deanna Lee, the aquarium's administrative officer, had when she first started volunteering at the facility in 1979.

"I remember it was dark and wet," she says. "There were leaks everywhere, and I remember it being dark and slimy."

Nonetheless, Lee recognized, as others almost invariably do, that the Waikiki Aquarium is as unique as the community it serves and the environment it helps to safeguard. Lee is one of several staff members who have been with the organization for more than 20 years, long enough to see the leaks repaired and the exhibit spaces greatly enhanced so that they are more illuminating, if not actually brighter.

To be sure, even at its darkest and drippiest, the aquarium's reputation in the areas of research and education was sterling. Administered by some of the top figures in the field of marine science, the organization had done pioneering work in sea-life husbandry and environmental studies, while educating generations of Island families about the ocean and its life forms. These efforts continue despite a relatively meager $2 million annual operating budget, and a small and deteriorating facility.

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Waikiki Aquarium 9 a.m.-4:30 p.m. daily; closed Christmas Day $7 general, $5 kama'aina, seniors, military, students; $3.50 ages 13-17 and persons with disabilities; free for kids 12 and younger 923-9741, waquarium.org Waikiki Aquarium 100th-birthday events Events at the Waikiki Aquarium: O! What An Experience Family Fun Day: Centennial celebration with entertainment by Jordan Segundo, Tani Lynn and Omni as well as keiki hula, docent talks and screenings. 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission: $1. Celebrating 100 Years of Science — On the Edge: Past and present aquarium directors Leighton Taylor, Bruce Carlson and Cindy Hunter highlight some of the most entertaining moments of discovery in the Pacific. Light pupu and refreshments. 6-9 p.m. March 18. Admission: $30 general, $12 children ($25 and $10 respectively for aquarium members). 100th Birthday Bash: Concert under the stars with the Makaha Sons. Evening includes a mini tasting fair with dishes from popular Honolulu restaurants, and birthday cake presentation with aquarium directors. 6:30-9 p.m. March 19. Admission: $28 general, $14 ages 7-12, free for children under 6 ($20 and $10 respectively for aquarium members).

Frederick Potter, a clerk for the transit authority, served as the first aquarium director, making up for a lack of background in marine sciences with an enthusiasm for his job that would last some 36 years. It was during Potter's tenure that the aquarium began its long tradition of cutting-edge research. A marine biology laboratory, headed by Charles Edmonson, was established next to the aquarium in 1912 with funds donated by the C.M. Cook Estate. That facility and the aquarium became part of the newly formed University of Hawai'i when the lease expired in 1919.

The next director, the aforementioned Tinker, also enjoyed a long career as director of the aquarium, serving from 1940 to 1973 and overseeing the construction of a new building that increased attendance from 55,799 in 1954 to 265,114 in 1955.

By the time Tinker retired, the aquarium had reached a pivotal point. Its research functions had moved to the Hawai'i Institute for Marine Biology and the Pacific Biomedical Research Center, and its education programs had lost their focus. A new director, Leighton Taylor, brought a renewed sense of purpose and a host of identity-building, revenue-generating ideas, including an education department, volunteer program, library, research facility, logo, gift shop, membership program and a master plan for first exhibits.

Today's aquarium still bears the strong imprint of Taylor's work, as well as those of his successors: Carlson — who emphasized new, naturalistic exhibits of aquatic life and habitats of Hawai'i and the western Pacific — and interim director Hunter.

Rossiter says he intends to build on the aquarium's mission to help the community understand and care for the life of the ocean through exhibits, research and conservation efforts. But to do that, Rossiter says, the organization will need more aggressive fund-raising efforts and, ultimately, a new facility.

"The coral reef diversity and marine life we have around these Islands is a treasure trove," he says. "A lot of people don't realize how special and unique it is. Hopefully, the aquarium can act as a window to what is out there."