How Many Scientists Sit On SeaWorld’s Board Of Directors?
Who's running SeaWorld's sinking ship these days?
The marine park chain is facing a barrage of criticism over the treatment of its captive whales and dolphins, its revenues are plummeting and business partners are dropping like flies. After CEO Jim Atchison stepped down on Jan. 15, the board of directors was left to hire a new leader to stave off the company's ever-steepening descent.
If the makeup of the board is any indication, the new CEO will come from the financial world and know little about conservation, zoology or wildlife species management - just like the nine members of the current board.
It's not the norm for an organization that holds "wildlife species management and conservation" as one of its main tenets not to have a single scientist on its board, Lori Marino, executive director of The Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy, told The Dodo.
"I think that not having anyone with a science, conservation, or animal behavior or veterinary background on the board is very telling," she said. "It tells something about the motivations of the organization, as well as the level of expertise they can draw from."
Marino added that having people with financial backgrounds on a board can be helpful from a business standpoint, but "to have no one to represent the content of the organization is very strange."(TheDodo.com)
The current chairman of the board, David D'Alessandro, has taken over as interim CEO while the board looks for someone to fill the spot. D'Alessandro previously served as chairman, president and chief executive officer of an insurance company.
The other eight board members include the chief financial officer of a toy company, the former co-CEO of a communications agency and three employees of the Blackstone Group L.P., the massive private equity group that took SeaWorld public in April 2013. They each receive yearly fees for serving on the board, ranging from $60,000 to $210,000. None of the directors has a degree or experience in conservation, biology or zoological science.
The other sector of SeaWorld's leadership comprises the nine people that make up its management team (a separate entity than the board of directors). The team includes the chief operating officer, the chief financial officer, accountants and lawyers.
D'Alessandro serves on both the board of directors and the management team, bringing the total number of SeaWorld's executive leaders to 17. The only person close to being a scientist is the company's Chief Zoological Officer, Brad Andrews, who holds a bachelor's degree of Science from St. Mary's College. Andrews is not on the board of directors.
As a point of comparison, the board of directors for the World Wildlife Fund includes seven members with PhDs in environmental or scientific fields, in addition to other top academics. The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS), which owns the Bronx Zoo and the New York Aquarium, has a tropical biologist as its CEO, as well as five PhDs among its executive officers.
Seaworld, a for-profit institution - unlike the non-profit organizations above - has continued to assert that it is "one of the world's most respected zoological institutions."
Without one person in leadership who can claim a background in zoology, conservation, or even any of the sciences, that claim rings hollow.
SeaWorld Entertainment, Inc. has not responded to The Dodo's requests for comment.