Announcing The Dolphin Institute’s annual “Al Rosen Dolphin Surveys”

In June of 2023, Norma Rosen Meyers, daughter of one of our original Earthwatch Volunteers on the dolphin project, Al Rosen, provided, with her husband Larry, a generous contribution to The Dolphin Institute that has allowed us to purchase a 27 ft dual outboard engine 2000 World Cat research vessel. The vessel will be used to continue our long-term studies of humpback whales as well as expand these surveys to the many dolphin species in Hawai’i’s waters including spinner dolphins in Hilo Bay. In recognition of this generous gift, we are thrilled to announce the annual “Al Rosen Dolphin Surveys” in honor of Norma’s dad, Al Rosen.

You can learn more about Al and the impact The Dolphin Institute had on his life through Norma’s beautiful tribute below.

Born in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, New York in 1931, Al Rosen spent his life by the water. He said he would have become a marine biologist if he’d ever imagined such a career as an option for him. In 1949, he began studying business at CCNY, and in 1958 he moved to California and started his own business, just a few blocks from the shores of Santa Monica beach.  An avid sailor, Al loved the sea and the creatures who lived beneath its surface—especially dolphins. In 1979, Al leaped at an opportunity offered through Earthwatch to spend 6 weeks in Honolulu’s Kewalo Basin Marine Mammal Lab, working with Dr. Herman’s research team and their dolphins Akeakamai and Phoenix. His daughter Norma visited for a few days, and shared part of this life-changing experience with her dad. Al sold his business in 1992 and retired to the idyllic coastal town of Aptos, CA.  There he continued to enjoy life by the ocean to the fullest, sharing his love for jazz, jokes, (especially puns) and good times with his friends, family, and favorite animals. He died peacefully at home at the age of 70. Al was generous, welcoming, and kind, and he knew how to bring out the best in people. He would have been thrilled to know that research and protection of marine life is being carried out in his name.