A 20-year walk on the wild side will soon come to an end for Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo curator Richard Winchell.

Mr. Winchell, who joined the Aquarium in March 1980, will be fishing for a new challenge in the private sector.

And while he declined to comment on his plans, Mr. Winchell spoke to The Royal Gazette about his time as curator and the Aquarium's development over the past two decades.

With all of its animal attractions, Mr. Winchell sees education as the Aquarium's main role in the community.

"It is the essence of our mission,'' he said.

The Aquarium educates 6,000 students each year through summer camps and various school-related initiatives.

"You need to know something about the environment in order to protect it,'' said Mr. Winchell.

"These kids aren't travelling every weekend. Here they can see wildlife that is found not only in Bermuda, but elsewhere as well.'' Conservation of Bermuda wildlife is another of the Aquarium's primary objectives.

Under Mr. Winchell's direction, the Aquarium has launched the Biodiversity and Turtle Projects, major undertakings which involve detailed cataloguing of species.

"By cataloguing data, we hope to be able to save species from extinction simply because people will know more about them,'' he said.

"Ideally, the Biodiversity Project will be used to plan Bermuda's future so that we can protect the most important thing we have -- our beautiful environment.'' Other major developments include the extensive North Rock Exhibit, opened in 1996, and the Australasian Exhibit, the following year. A second floor was added to the museum in 1985, making it a "proper natural history museum'', according to Mr. Winchell.

And construction of the Caribbean Exhibit, designed to house birds and other animals, will commence this autumn.

The Aquarium has plans to further expand their education initiative with the construction of a new classroom.

But sitting on just five acres, the Aquarium is small. Mr. Winchell compares it to the zoo in New York's Central Park, one of his favourites.

"There are only five exhibits,'' he said.

"But they are five excellent exhibits -- and that is how I think I see this facility.

"Each individual exhibit is very effective.

"The Aquarium is of human proportions -- it only takes one and a half hours to get through it.'' "If people can walk away with a better understanding of an island's nature and man's effects, then we have done what we set out to do,'' Mr. Winchell added.

One of the Aquarium's greatest achievements was accreditation by the American Zoo & Aquarium Association in 1993.

"We successfully completed a review and the recognition shows that we are of an international standard,'' Mr. Winchell pointed out.

Most of the Aquarium's 120,000 visitors each year are tourists, making it the Island's most popular tourist attraction.

"Our role is to market the environment. We need to be fun,'' he said.

The Aquarium falls under the direction of the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

But although the Government provides for the Aquarium's essential services, community support -- both volunteer hours and financial donations -- makes the spectacular exhibits possible.

Since its inception in the late-1970s, the Bermuda Zoological Society, the Aquarium's support organisation, has grown to more than 10,000 members. BZS has also developed an education endowment to ensure that the Aquarium can continue with its objective.

When Mr. Winchell first drove along North Shore Road, he wondered if he could ever perceive the organisation as "his''.

"But I have never felt that way because so many people have put in a lot of effort to make it work,'' he said.

Mr. Winchell said the Aquarium would like to search for a replacement internally. He will be leaving the organisation in August.