“Be more than a fish tank”: Dr. Jerry Schubel’s mission accomplished at Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific

When Dr. Jerry Schubel was hired in 2002 to become executive director of Long Beach’s Aquarium of the Pacific, he was given one task: “Be more than a fish tank.”

Mission accomplished.

Friday, the aquarium will begin a summer-long celebration of its 20th birthday. The doors opened on June 20, 1998. Schubel sat down last week to take stock.

Even early on, the aquarium was more than a place to go look at fish. Founding executive director Warren Iliff helped design the exhibits to provide opportunities to explore all of the knowns and unknowns of the Pacific Ocean. It was as much classroom as entertainment.

When Schubel took over, the concept of a learning center expanded exponentially. Expansions under his watch have included a water resource exhibit, classrooms, a veterinary where people can learn about fish and mammal biology (the Molina Animal Care Facility), the ever-popular Science on a Sphere and more.

But the joy of watching everything from moon jellies to sharks is never far from the surface. The Aquarium of the Pacific needs visitors to stay open as well as to fulfill its mission of teaching about the ocean environment.

“The live animals are the bait,” Schubel smiles. “We sort of snooker them into learning… We humans learn best either when we are having fun or when we scared to death. We’re having fun here.”

Long Beach’s aquarium has steadily climbed the ranks of major institutions both nationally and internationally over its 20 years. For the last two years, admission has hit more than 1.7 million people — there were worries the attendance would drop as more people were able to say they had seen the aquarium, but that hasn’t happened.

“People love to learn, especially when it’s not a ’taught’ experience,” Schubel said. “I believe we are the number four aquarium in the country now, and once Pacific Visions opens, we’ll move up to number two.”

Schubel ticks off things the aquarium does to fulfill its mission of educating, informing and being part of the scientific discussion. There is a speaker series bringing experts from all over the country. There are symposiums and conferences with a host of partners — NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) has cohosted major climate change meetings, city leaders tasked the aquarium with studying and reporting on a sustainable city plan, talks and debates about the California drought and sea level rise have attracted national experts — and national attention.

There are several institutions with a Science on a Sphere installation. But no one can match the Aquarium of the Pacific’s 14 different programs created for the tool.

And they’ve only just begun, as the saying goes.

“Pacific Visions will be a new way to look at many of these issues,” Schubel said. “It will help us explore pathways into alternative futures. It will help in how we determine our future.

California is a microcosm of the world. It is a great laboratory. Water will be one of those key factors of the future. How we become water resilient is a key for all.”

The $53 million expansion will include an immersive 300-seat theater (with a 130-foot-wide by 32-foot-tall screen curved in a 180-degree arc, a 30-foot diameter floor projection disc, surround sound, and seats “wired for interactivity”) as well as an art gallery and additional exhibition space for live animals in 29,000 square feet of space. It also will create a brand new facade for the aquarium’s front — a wall that can be programmed with images.

Schubel is quick to give credit to those who came before him in Long Beach.

“Warren (Iliff) really integrated the aquarium into the community,” Schubel said. “Now we look to how we can create an institution that will thrive, that will be the most successful in the country…

“Downtowns are the living rooms of great cities, the gathering places where we come together. We’ve become one of those places where people come to communicate.”

To illustrate, Schubel points to the many cultural festivals sponsored by the aquarium every year. The diversity of events reflects the diversity of the community — as does the corps of aquarium volunteers.

“We have the most diverse group of volunteers in the country,” he said. “We had 1,700 volunteers working here last year. We’ve had more than 10,000 people volunteer here over time, and every one has become an ambassador in the community for the aquarium.”

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