If you are interested in Aquariums, the San Francisco Bay, environmental groups in the Bay Area or long articles, feel free to read my cover story in the Pacific Sun...here's a taste:


July 7, 2006
The Pacific Sun

Water World
BY JORDAN E. ROSENFELD

If the staff of the Novato-based Bay Institute could have one wish granted for its 25th birthday this year, the bay and all its inflows would magically return to a pristine state of health, unsullied by the human footprint.

In lieu of such a miracle, the Bay Institute has received the next best gift—a partnership with the only facility in the country that focuses specifically on the life and story of the bay—the Aquarium of the Bay at Pier 39 in San Francisco.

For nearly two years the Bay Institute, a leading scientific nonprofit that restores and stewards the San Francisco Bay and its tributaries, has worked with the management team of the aquarium and countless partners and decision-makers to try to purchase it under a pressured time-line.

And against a corporate bidder.

Just when they feared they would lose their chance altogether, in stepped Bay Area businessman Darius Anderson, and his firm Kenwood Investments, who acted as a bridge and purchased the aquarium to preserve a legacy for current and future generations of Bay Area residents. In support of the Bay Institute, Anderson offered the funds at the final hour, winning the bid against the Ripley’s: Believe It or Not franchise. Anderson has given the Bay Institute an exclusive two-year option to acquire the Aquarium of the Bay and operate it as a nonprofit facility. In the interim, they will work as scientific collaborators to raise awareness and introduce people to the aquarium.

read the rest HERE