Reviewing events in the region since I was last there, I came across this news (three years late, for something this interesting, is better than never to learn about it). WWF, to its great credit and the world’s benefit, found creative ways to partner with entities during the time since I completed my small task for them.  Listening to this man speak on behalf of the aquarium, I see the enormous educational impact such an institution can have (and here I must acknowledge that I have always found zoos and aquariums melancholia-inducing places, with charismatic mega-fauna trapped in relatively small spaces for us to muse over; but I am changing my perspective):

The WWF press release at the time started:

Long Beach, Calif., April 30, 2008— Described by Jacques Cousteau as the world’s aquarium, Mexico’s Gulf of California is one of five marine ecosystems in the world with the highest diversity of wildlife.

But pressures from unsustainable tourism, development, and commercial fishing are threatening the wildlife and the way of life for the people of the region. World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Aquarium of the Pacific have formed a partnership to help save the Gulf of California.

And to hear WWF’s version of the same news, spend another couple minutes listening to the creative tinkerer who was behind these partnerships: