Kenneth Stafford Norris (August 11, 1924 – August 16, 1998) was an American

marine mammal Marine mammals are mammals that rely on marine ecosystems for their existence. They include animals such as cetaceans, pinnipeds, sirenians, sea otters and polar bears. They are an informal group, unified only by their reliance on marine enviro ...

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

, conservationist, naturalist, and co-founder of

SeaWorld SeaWorld is an American theme park chain with headquarters in Orlando, Florida. It is a proprietor of marine mammal parks, oceanariums, animal theme parks, and rehabilitation centers owned by United Parks & Resorts. The parks host shows st ...

. Norris did pioneering work on

dolphin A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

echolocation. His conservation work included helping establish the

University of California Natural Reserve System The University of California Natural Reserve System (UCNRS) is a system of protected areas throughout California. The reserves support UC's mission of teaching, research, and public service. Unlike national and state parks, they are not availab ...

and work towards passage of the

Marine Mammal Protection Act The Marine Mammal Protection Act (MMPA) was the first act of the United States Congress to call specifically for an ecosystem approach to wildlife management. Authority MMPA was signed into law on October 21, 1972, by President Richard Nixon ...

. Norris was a professor at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

and

UC Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of California system. Located in Monterey Bay ...

. Norris,

Milton Shedd Milton ‘Milt’ C. Shedd (September 26, 1922 – May 24, 2002) was an American businessman, philanthropist, conservationist, angler, and co-founder of SeaWorld. Early life and military service Shedd was born in El Paso, Texas and grew up in L ...

, David Demott and

George Millay George Millay (July 4, 1929 – February 6, 2006) was an American businessman and founder of SeaWorld and Wet 'n Wild water parks. Millay was born July 4, 1929, at Mercy Hospital and grew up in Ocean Beach, San Francisco, and Hawaii. After ser ...

co-founded SeaWorld. The four graduates of

originally set out to build an underwater restaurant and marine life show. When the underwater restaurant concept was deemed unfeasible, they scrapped those plans and decided to build a park instead, and

SeaWorld San Diego SeaWorld San Diego is a theme park in Mission Bay Park in San Diego, California. It is a marine mammal park, oceanarium, public aquarium, and marine animal rehabilitation center. SeaWorld, the theme park's proprietor, is owned and operated by Un ...

was opened on March 21, 1964.

Selected bibliography

* *

as editor

References

External links and further reading

*
Kenneth S. Norris, naturalist, cetologist & conservationist, 1924-1998: an oral history biography
.'' Interviewed by Randall Jarrell and Irene Reti. Regional History Project, University Library, UC Santa Cruz. 1999 *
Marine Mammal Science
', Oct. 1999, v.15(4). Special issue remembering Dr. Norris.
Photographs of Ken Norris from the UC Santa Cruz Library's Digital Collections
1924 births 1998 deaths American marine biologists University of California, Santa Cruz faculty University of California, Los Angeles faculty 20th-century American zoologists SeaWorld San Diego {{US-zoologist-stub