Up Close and
Personal
Coral World allows world-class marline life interaction, education
When it comes to protecting the environment, talking
the talk means little if Coral World Ocean Park doesn’t
also walk the walk.
“I
t’s particularly critical for us because the
environment is what we’re showing people,
and you can’t destroy the environment that
you’re trying to get the public to come and see,” said
Lee Kellar, general curator of the facility on St. Thomas
in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“There’s a negative feedback from the business
model, in addition to just the strong philosophy of the
people who work here. We enjoy the environment
we live in and none of us have any motivation to cause
damage.”
A structural step in that direction came when Coral
World, in late 2012, installed a 100,000-watt solar
system on the roofs of several buildings across the
property.
The project served two practical purposes – one to
enhance the aforementioned reputation of the facility
as a sound environmental steward, and another to
help defray bottom-line electricity costs. The system
generates between 15 and 20 percent of the park’s
overall electrical power, and the shortfall is handled by
the area’s established electrical utility.
“We have a 55-cent kilowatt hour cost,” said Trudie
Prior, Coral World’s general manager. “If you’re at 10
cents per kilowatt hour, it probably still doesn’t make
sense to spend the money on it, but at 55 cents per
kilowatt hour – given the tax incentives, it makes huge
sense for us. I think our recovery on the investment is
something like 2½ or three years.”
Another facet of corporate responsibility is giving back
to the community.
The park is an active participant in programs that
make the facility available to area students for tours, and
it also boasts a strong internship program that enables
participants to not only learn the inner workings of the
Coral World operation – but also provides the skills
needed to succeed at similar organizations elsewhere
in the industry.
“At our heart we are an educational organization,
in addition to conservation, and that is an important
role and a passion,” Kellar said. “Those are the sorts of
things you have an obligation to provide, whether it’s
actually formally mandated or not. It’s just the right way
to operate.”
Looking toward the future, the arrival of the dolphins
is circled on all Coral World calendars.
Upon final approval, the new dolphin facility will
increase the park’s overall size by 50 percent and its
importance is significant to the long-term health of the
organization. And, Prior said, if it creates an internal
drive for the people in charge of the other animal
activities to raise their games, even better.
“The dolphins are going to be a very, very big thing
for us,” she said. “We’re not doubling in size, but it’s a
very big step and obviously we hope it’s going to result
in a very big increase in the number of people who
come here. After the dolphins, we’ll have to wait and
see.
“The dolphins will be competing with our other
activities, too, so who knows, we may come up with
other things with the turtles or the sharks, too. But it’s
a lot we’re biting off right now, so we want to make
sure we’re doing that well before we move on to the
next thing.”
