The Seattle Aquarium Society

“A draft version of the form 990 will be shared with the finance committee initially. All board members have the opportunity to review a public disclosure copy of the form 990 prior to filing.”

“The policies contained in the conflict of interest agreement were first approved by the executive committee in its december 2007 meeting. The conflict of interest statement is reviewed by the aquarium's attorney before it is sent out each year. An annual form is sent to the board of directors and employees asking for disclosure of any conflicts of interest. If the board is making a decision regarding a product or service in which a conflict exists, conflicted board members would be recused from voting on the decision.”

“We use a market-based wage survey conducted during the year as a baseline to establish compensation levels. The compensation committee primarily concerns itself with the details related to the executive team positions. They do, however, provide overall wage pool guidance which impacts all employees of the aquarium. The organization uses comparable data from both for-profit and nonprofit wage surveys, as well as the association of zoos and aquariums wage survey to help determine compensation. Written records are maintained reporting the decisions and meetings regarding the compensation packages. In 2022 the aquarium published pay bands for all employees to provide greater compensation transparency. All positions were reviewed against market data at that time to be assigned to the most appropriate pay band.”

“The annual report, most recently completed audit and most recently completed 990 are all available on our website. Other information is available upon request.”

“804 volunteers assisted staff members with animal husbandry and exhibit maintenance tasks, public education through interpretation in exhibits, event set-up and take-down, clerical tasks and public outreach programs. The organization keeps track of the number of volunteers, hours served and other statistical information by using a volunteer program management database.”

“Since opening on may 20, 1977, the seattle aquarium has been an integral part of the city and the region, providing a platform for education and conservation. Visitors of all ages from near and far come to the seattle aquarium to see up close our charismatic collection of animals, including sea otters and octopuses, and to discover the wonders of our oceans. The aquarium has hosted nearly 29 million visitors, as many as 825,000 visitors annually, and continues to inspire conservation of our marine environment. The seattle aquarium is the ninth-largest aquarium in the us based on attendance. During 2022 we increased attendance over the prior year and hosted 768,250 visitors to our facility getting very close to pre-pandemic levels. We continued to distribute free tickets through our connections program. These tickets go to more than 350 partner agencies serving low-income families, communities of color, immigrant and refugee communities, people with disabilities, families and individuals experiencing homelessness. More than 60,000 free admission tickets were distributed through these programs. The seattle aquarium is the heart of the seattle waterfront and a destination for residents, school groups, community groups and touring visitors alike. We serve our community through a variety of channels, including education programs, visitor engagement, conservation projects and research initiatives. As an informal science education center, we are on the leading edge of creating scientifically literate and informed citizens. We believe conservation of the marine environment relies upon our visitors leaving us with a greater respect and knowledge for the ocean and marine animals than they did when they first entered our doors. Association of zoos and aquariums (aza) accreditation: the seattle aquarium has been accredited by the aza since 1979, which means that we meet the highest standards for animal care and well-being. In 2017, the seattle aquarium successfully received its aza accreditation renewal, a process that will be repeated in 2023, that reaffirms that the organization continues to use best practices through an independent evaluation and inspection. Conservation programs & partnerships: in 2022 we furthered our conservation work that includes renewed focus on the salish sea and expansion of our conservation narrative to include the coral triangle, the marine biodiversity hotspot located between the philippines, indonesia and the solomon islands. Having these anchors on either side of the pacific provides us with an opportunity to understand and tell the story of puget sound in a critical global context. Species recovery: we continued our species recovery work to restore pinto abalone populations in washington in partnership with the puget sound restoration fund, the washington department of fish & wildlife and others. The pinto abalone is culturally important to native american and indigenous peoples, and is ecologically important in maintaining the health of kelp forest ecosystems. The aquarium also continued work with the "reshark" collective, a group of 70+ global partners and local indonesian governments. After we helped commission the life support systems for the first shark nursery in raja ampat, indonesia, our team supported the first shipment of eggs, from the sea life sydney aquarium, in august of 2022. The pups hatched, grew well, and were released with much jubilation including coverage by national geographic and are being monitored thanks to small tags. Advance campus expansion: the aquarium continued the construction of a new building, the ocean pavilion, focused on the marine environment of the indo-pacific and the coral triangle. Programming will highlight connections between the salish sea and the indo-pacific sharing a narrative of both global and local topics in ocean health. We are in the midst of a capital campaign that will bring the story of the human-ocean connection across the pacific basin to life. Ani”

“The beach naturalist program has become an attraction on local beaches. Every summer, school and community groups seek out this free program to supplement their field trips to the beach. The beach naturalist program engaged volunteer naturalists and held 48,000+ conversations with beach visitors over 20 beach dates. In 2022 we further incorporated effective practices for fostering empathy and visual thinking strategies into training for new and returning naturalists. The beach naturalist program supports this work by helping people to connect with tide pool animals in new ways. By collecting data on empathic behaviors taken by our beach visitors, we can understand how this work shapes interactions between people and wildlife. Cedar river salmon journey's 25th season continued at an expanded rate, reaching 17,872 people through salmon-focused events in 2022. The cedar river salmon journey program has been educating watershed residents about salmon and watershed health since 1998. The seattle aquarium program trains community volunteers to engage the public at salmon spawning sites along in the cedar river in the fall, and at the hiram chittenden locks in the summer. Naturalists also provide interpretative programs at other community events in the region throughout the year, reaching additional audiences with information about the connection between personal behaviors, healthy watersheds and salmon. Over the lifetime of the program more than 200,000 visitors have come out to see salmon and to learn about ways they can help support and promote salmon recovery in our watershed. In 2022 the aquarium began offering virtual reality experiences that enable guests to explore empathy with marine animals that are not physically here at the aquarium. There are currently two virtual reality experiences, one for humpback whales and one for manta rays. Guests can experience these magnificent creatures in science-based films of these animals in their natural environment. This is a very popular addition that our visitors enjoy.”