AFRICAN PENGUIN CONSERVATION

With safeguarding imperiled wildlife as a priority, The Florida Aquarium continues to expand its role in African penguin conservation. Senior Vice President of Conservation, Debborah Luke, PhD attended an African penguin conservation meeting in Namibia, South Africa and is exploring ways The Florida Aquarium can make a meaningful impact in the conservation of this critically endangered species. We also donated two veterinary tables to the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB).

Our Blue Team completed the second year of our Sustainable Business & Operations Plan, having realized significant progress in becoming single-use plastic bottle free by 2023 and operating as a zero-waste facility by 2030. We conducted our first annual inventory of Scope 1 & 2 greenhouse gas emissions and plotted our pathway to net zero carbon emissions by 2035.

The entire Aquarium staff participated in our Conservation Days of Action, during which more than two (2) tons of debris was collected from our community. This was also our first year of participation in the global eco-initiative known as the Plastic-Free July Challenge. Our team, inclusive of 147 people (staff, volunteers and community members), earned approximately 36,000 points and placed 7 out of 310 teams nationwide. Not bad for our first year!

In addition, we also collected 5,308 pounds of debris throughout the course of FY22, as part of our efforts to reduce pollution.