Ken Moser Leaving His Mark At Florida Aquarium

Wesley Chapel resident Ken Moser poses with one of his stained glass pieces near the Florida Aquarium entrance. (Photos: Charmaine George)

When Ken Moser moved to Wesley Chapel from Maryland in 2017, he and his wife Becky were retired and looking for a place to volunteer.

“We went to the (Tampa) zoo (at Lowry Park) in July and it was 95 degrees,” he says, adding that they immediately decided that the zoo was most definitely not the place for them.

Ken joined a fly fishing club, and says one of the members was always talking about the Florida Aquarium, so he eventually decided to give that a try.

In March 2019, Ken and Becky began training to volunteer together.

Over the last two years, and despite the Covid-19 pandemic, their efforts have made quite an impact.

So much so, that in April, Ken was named the Florida Aquarium’s Volunteer of the Year. This title earns him an honorary spot on the Aquarium’s Board of Directors for the year.

While he was chosen for his dedication — nearly 600 volunteer hours over the past two years (similar to Outstanding Service winner Edwin Rodriguez, whom we featured last issue) — and his infectious good attitude, he also was recognized for how another of his hobbies has enhanced the aquarium itself.

Ken created eight different stained glass windows that are now located throughout the aquarium. He says creating stained glass is one of many hobbies he’s taken up to keep busy during retirement.

“About eight years ago, my wife and I took a stained glass class at the community college,” Ken says. “I’ve been self-taught from there.”

The eight windows he’s created for the aquarium started when he noticed a two-foot window in the Madagascar section of the aquarium, where he thought he could mirror the bright colors of the exhibit with a brightly colored window.

After that, he says he was inspired to make a window of leafy sea dragons for the volunteer lunch room. Ken says they were so well-received that he was asked to make windows for the front of the aquarium and the CEO’s office.

“Each one is specific to the aquarium,” he says. “The pelicans are Josh and Theo, the penguins are waddling through the wetlands exhibit, there are sea turtles, spoonbills and moon jellies (jellyfish). I tried to keep it to what people can see at the aquarium.”

Josh and Theo

Josh and Theo are brown pelicans who have been popular on the Florida Aquarium’s social media accounts, and moon jellies are jellyfish that can not only be seen, but also touched in the aquarium’s touch tank.

Ken says the more time he spends there, the more he gets to know the animals.

“If you take the time to watch each individual animal,” he says, “you’ll start to see their individual behaviors.”

When asked if he has a favorite marine animal, Ken doesn’t seem to be able to narrow it down.

“Every week seems to be a different one,” he says. “The jawfish is one of the most comical characters, and I like listening to the wood ducks talking back and forth to each other in the wetlands. And, the stingray tank has a little baby who is worth the price of admission just to see her.”

Ken and Becky both work in education, teaching guests about the aquarium’s many animals. They initially agreed to volunteer at least eight hours a month, but soon determined they had more time than that to spare.

“Once I got in the commissary,” Ken says, “I would go three times a week. It’s just a fun place to go.”

The commissary is where food is prepared for the aquarium’s 8,000 animals.

 â€œWe have menus for the various animals,” Ken explains. “Some require different fishes that have to be cut up different ways, for example, and birds have seeds and pellets.”

Ken hasn’t worked in the commissary since March 2020, before Covid-19 shut down the aquarium and no volunteers were allowed in.

When the aquarium reopened in May, a few volunteers helped in guest services and as “roaming disinfectors,” to make sure guests stayed on the pathways and wore masks.

Now, Ken says, a limited number of volunteers are back in the education department manning the touch tanks during the day.

“As soon as volunteers were allowed,” he says, “I felt responsibility to come back and keep the program alive. At one time, they had 300 volunteers, but they were down to zero. If no one comes back, there’s no program.”

He says the aquarium is always staffed to provide necessary care to the animals, but although the aquarium functions without volunteers, he says, “everyone is happier with us there.”

Ken adds that the staff treats the volunteers like family, and that he and other volunteers feel enormously appreciated and grateful to be able to be part of the aquarium. 

He is impressed with how the aquarium has navigated its way through the pandemic, too.

Ken working at the stingray station.

In fact, Ken and Becky donated their first Covid stimulus checks to the aquarium.

“Being retired, we didn’t plan on that money, so we thought, ‘Who needs it more?,’” says Ken. “The aquarium lost all of its guests and still needed to feed the animals every day, so we thought the money was better used that way.”

Ken says he and Becky intend to continue volunteering at the aquarium as long as they possibly can.

“When they announced the award, there were several people who had reached the 25-year mark as volunteers at the aquarium,” Ken says. “There are some really dedicated people there. I might not get 25 years — I started a little late — but at least I left my mark there with the windows. They should be there long after I’m gone, so I will leave that behind.”

Local Thrill Seeker’s Passion Is Volunteering

Edwin Rodriguez

For more than 30 years, Edwin Rodriguez has made the long commute to work in Clearwater every day from his home in Wesley Chapel.

But, for the past six years, he has been breaking up his Tuesday drive home with a stop at the Florida Aquarium in downtown Tampa.

There, he dons scuba gear and spends several hours cleaning the tanks. Rodriguez has racked up more than 640 hours of volunteering in that role, and others, at the aquarium.

For example, he says it makes him jump out of bed with a smile when there’s a special occasion.

“My favorite is Halloween,” he says. “Every year, I dress up like Spider-Man underwater, and the kids go nuts.  Just imagine me crawling on the glass like a spider. The looks on the kids’ faces are just priceless.”

Edwin also volunteers to help clean Tampa Bay, especially after large events like the Gasparilla parade. 

“We dive to clean the beads that end up in the water,” he says. “And not only beads. Last time we went, we got a couple of those scooters that people ride around town — all kinds of garbage that you wouldn’t even believe.”

Edwin started scuba diving in 1986 in his native Puerto Rico. He moved to Florida in 1988, and then discovered skydiving.

“At that point, I put my scuba gear away,” he says. When he suffered an injury not related to skydiving, Ruth, his wife of 21 years, told him it was time to find something different.

Edwin’s favorite time of the year is Halloween.

He agreed, on one condition. He needed to keep the adrenaline pumping, so they tried new adventures together. They started riding ATVs, and then jet skis.

“My wife said she’d like to try scuba diving,” explains Edwin, “and immediately, my passion for it came back.”

Wanting to spend more time underwater, he found out he could dive as a volunteer at the Florida Aquarium. 

“Once I started, I began to understand the mission and vision of the aquarium,” he says. “When I started, my reason for volunteering was selfishly wanting to dive more, but now, I see the big picture. The aquarium’s work to restore the planet has deeply impacted me.”

“Every time I brush a coral (which you have to be properly trained to do), I realize I’m making an impact,” he says. “I’m making it more clean and safe for the animals, and helping the aquarium to be able to bring more people in, plus everything they do to help the planet that people don’t see.”

The process to become an aquarium volunteer is rigorous, and not everyone who wants to help is chosen to do so. Edwin explains that he first filled out an application, then attended a seminar to understand expectations, and completed a required medical test.

He then had to pass a swim test. He says that treading water for 10 minutes and demonstrating his scuba skills was no problem, but even after training, the now-55-year-old says it was difficult for him to swim the required number of meters in the time allotted. After that, he studied for and passed an online test, then started training, including learning how to properly dive in an aquarium.

He says it was all worth it, as he enjoys helping the aquarium, its animals and many visitors, including his six-year-old grandson. “He’s everything to me,” Edwin says. “He loves to go to the aquarium and would go every day if we would let him.”

Edwin was recently recognized at the Florida Aquarium’s annual appreciation event with its annual Outstanding Service Award.

“I don’t see me stopping anytime soon,” he says. “I want to retire from work when I turn 60 and I will have time available, so I want to use more of that time at the aquarium. If I get to the point where I can’t scuba dive, there are plenty of other things to do at the aquarium.”