The dolphin exhibit at the National Aquarium in Baltimore last summer. Credit Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Four members of La Paz Group remember the day in May, 2014 when they had the good fortune to share a breakfast table with John Racanelli. The conversation was about conservation, what we call entrepreneurial conservation and what he seemed to be practicing in the world of mega-aquaria. We knew from that moment that this was someone to watch, and news from this week’s Science section of the New York Times is just one of many examples why: