Clearwater Marine Aquarium CEO announces plan to step down
David Yates in his CMA office (FOX 13 file)
CLEARWATER, Fla. - After the red carpet treatment, a multi-million-dollar expansion, and a public fight with the Church of Scientology, Clearwater Marine Aquarium CEO David Yates says now is the right time to pass the torch.
"In about two months, I’m going to be stepping down,” Yates announced Thursday. “I’ve had a great 14-year run. I've loved the work. And I have another chapter in my life I’d love to get to."
Yates was brought on as CEO in 2006, a time when the aquarium’s future was uncertain, and the annual budget was about $2-million.
"Now it's $20-million to $25-million,” Yates said. “That's all gone back right into our work to rebuild. At the time, our building was a dilapidated, didn't have good animal care facilities. So we took all the money we made and put back into our facility."
And a lot of his success came from the film he co-produced on the aquarium’s most famous resident, Winter the dolphin.
"Winter’s story was such a great overcoming story, it just made sense for a major motion picture. It was a still a one-in-a-billion to get it done, but we convinced Hollywood, and we did two movies, and now we're working on possibly a TV show."
RELATED: 14 years later, Winter the Dolphin reunited with fisherman who found her
Yates says he’ll be moving near Weeki Wachee but will continue his work in telling Winter’s story though that animated TV series.
He'll be passing the torch on to his-longtime colleague, Frank Dame.
"Frank Dame has been my partner in the success of CMA for almost 14 years,” Yates added. "This is my passion, it's been my passion for the last 13 years, and I just really love the people here, love the mission and I can't be happier."