THE LONG TIME CEO OF THE MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM HAS ANNOUNCED SHE IS STEPPING DOWN...AND WHILE JULIE PACKARD MAYBE STEPPING AWAY FROM DAY TO DAY OPERATIONS..SHE WILL STILL BE ACTIVE ON THE CONSERVATION FRONT... JUST YESTERDAY PACKARD POSTED THIS IN DEFENSE OF NOAA AND FEDERAL FUNDING FOR OCEAN SCIENCE,,, ITS A POST GETTING A LOT OF ENGAGEMENT ON SOCAIL MEDIA... IT SAYS.... "PROTECTING THE OCEAN HAS ALWAYS BEEN A BIPARTISAN EFFORT, IN CONGRESS AND ACROSS MULTIPLE WHITE HOUSE ADMINISTRATIONS. IN THE FACE OF ILL-CONCEIVED ATTACKS, IT'S TIME TO RAISE OUR VOICES IN SUPPORT OF OCEAN SCIENCE." PACKARD HAS SPENT HER LIFE FIGHTING FOR THE OCEAN...AND CLEARLY... SHE ISN'T ABOUT TO STOP NOW. SHE IS SUCH AN ICON IN SHE IS SUCH AN ICON IN THE WORLD OF CONSERVATION AND SOMEONE I LOOKED UP TO FOR A LONG TIME IN MY CAREER. AS A LEADER IN CONSERVATION AND WANTS TO SEE IT FUNDED SHE IS AN ICON. WE ARE SO FORTUNATE TO HAVE HER AS OUR LEADER, PAVING THE WAY FOR CONSERVATION OF THE OCEAN... I'M HAPPY TO SERVE IN WHATEVER ROLE ADVANCES CONSERVATION AND ADVANCES SCIENCE EDUCATION AND WOMEN IN SCIENCE AND WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP THE THINGS THAT ARE NEAR AND DEAR TO MY HEART. AND THAT IS JULIE PACKARD IN A NUTSHELL....THE BASIC PRINCIPLES THAT GUIDED HER LEADESHIP AT THE MONTEREY BAY AQUARIUM FOR THE LAST 40 YEARS...AND MADE HER A LEADER IN GLOBAL OCEAN CONSERVATION. "I BELEIVE THE GLOBAL AQUARIUM COMMUNITY HAS AN EXCITING ROLE TO PLAY IN TERMS OF A GLOBAL POPULATION THAT KNOWS ABOUT THE OCEAN, CARES ABOUT THE OCEAN THE MISSION OF THE AQUARIUM HAS ALWAYS BEEN TO OPEN UP THE UNDERWATER WORLD OF THE MONTEREY BAY...AND INSPIRE PEOPLE TO CARE... AND TO BE WILLING TO FIGHT FOR IT. IN OUR PART OF THE WORLD, WILDLIFE RECOVERY IS SUCH A SHINING STAR AND OTTERS WOULD DEFINITELY ON THAT LIST, ON THE RECOVERY LIST BUT JUST SO EVERYONE CAN REMEMBER AND CELEBRATE...SO MUCH OF THE WILDLIFE THAT WE HAVE HERE WHALES, THE SEALS, SEA LIONS, THE BROWN PELICANS...ALL OF THOSE ANIMALS WERE SEVERELY DEPLETED AND WE HAD TO PROTECT THEM AND NOW THEY'VE RECOVERED. THAT IS SOMETHING TO CELEBRATE. ITS FANTASTIC BUT WE NEED TO KEEP IT GOING IN THESE TIMES WHEN WE CAN'T TALE FOR GRANTED ALL THE ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS THAT WE PUT IN PLACE ...T, WE'VE GOT TO KEEP FIGHTING TO DIFFERENCE. THROUGH ADVOCACY AND EXAMPLE THERE HAVE BEEN SOEM BIG WINS FOR THE AQUARIUM. OTTER RECOVERY, ALWAYS A BIG PART OF THE AQUARIUM STORY A BAN ON SHARK FIN SALES IN CALIFORNIA ALSO, BLUE FIN TUNA WE HAVE ON SHOT OF BLUE FIN GOING BACK INTO THE OCEAN WHEN I GOT HERE IN 2013 THEY WERE DOWN TO UNDER 4% OF THEIR VIRGIN BIOMASS, S WE HAD SO MANY PARTNERSHIPS AND OPPORTUNITIES IN A SCIENCE DIMPLOMACY EFFORT WHERE WE WORKED WITH JPAN, MEXICO, AND OTHERS TO SET THE FIRST QUOTAS ON BLUE FIN TUNAS EVER IN JAPAN, AND THATS A SUCCESS STORY THATS BEEN LONG IN COMING BUT ITS GROUNDED IN THIS PLACE. FISHERIES...ITS SOMETHING WE KNOW HOW TO FIX. THAT'S WHY I LIKE US WORKING ON IT. WE CAN FIX IT. WE KNOW HOW TO DO IT RIGHT. 32;26 WHERE FISHERIES WERE DEPLETED THEY ARE ON THE ROAD TO RECOVERY. THE SEAFOOD WATCH PROGRAM GREW OUT OF THE AQUARIUMS FISHING FOR SOLUTIONS EXHIBIT.... ANOTHER WAY TO ENGAGE CONSUMERS AND MAKE THEM PARTNERS IN THE CONSERVATION EFFORT. WE LOOKED AT THE SUSTAINABILITY OF SEAFOOD USING 16 GUIDELINES AND HELP PEOPLE CHOOSE A BETTER SOURCE OF SEAFOOD THE NEXT BIG THING ON THE AGENDA....PLASTIC POLLUTION IN THE OCEAN... .WHICH MANY BELIEVE IS ALREADY A CRISIS...THE AQAUARIUM IS BACKING A STATE BILL TO BAN ALL SINGLE USE PLASTIC... ..SOMETHING JULIE CALLS THE MOST PROGRESSIVE BILL IN THE COUNTRY....BUT... PACKARD ACKNOWLEDGES THE POLITICAL CLIMATE HAS CHANGED AND SHE IS CANDID IN HER FEAR OF WHAT IS MIGHT MEAN FOR THE FUTURE OF THE OCEANS. A LOT OF WHATS GOING IN THE WORLD ENVIRONMENTALLY ESPECIALLY WITH GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE, IS EXTREMELY DEPRESSING AND I THINK IT ALL HOW WE DEAL WITH STRESS AND THREATS IN LIFE. FOR ME, I TRY TO NOT GET OVERLY HEATED UP ABOUT THINGS EVEN THOUGH ITS ABSOLUTELY TERRIFYING THE TRAJECTORY WE ARE ON....BUT I TRY TO FOCUS ON THE POWER OF HUMAN WILL ONE FO THE THINGS IM SO PROUD OF WHERE THE AQUARIUM HAS COME OVER THESE FORTY YEARS. WE'RE VIEWED AS A TRUSTED VOICE. WHICH IS SO WONDERFUL BECAUSE YOU HAVE TO EARN TRUST. PEOPLE DO LOOK TO US FOR SCIENTIFICALLY BASED CURATED INFORMATION ABOUT WAHTS HAPPENING, THESE ARE THE THINGS THAT WE ARE DOING AND THESE ARE THINGS THAT YOU CAN DO TO GET US ON A BETTER TRACT. IM ABSOLUTELY HOPEFUL BECAUSE THERE ISN'T THE OCEAN IS RESILIENT AND IT CAN RECOVER AND JUST ONE MORE INDICATION OF JULIE PACKARD'S STATURE IN THE CONSERVATION WORLD....SHE HAS BEEN NAMED ONE OF SIX FINALISTS FOR THE 2025 INDIANAPOLIS PRIZE... .CONSIDERED THE ACADEMY AWARDS OF THE CONSERVATION MOVEMENT...A VERY BIG DEAL..THE WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED IN MAY. MEANTI