Tim Binder

Senior Vice President of Animal Care & Health at The Florida Aquarium

Learning from Beluga Whales: How working with belugas in human care contributed to health assessments of belugas in Alaskan Waters.
Wednesday, November 5, 2025
Complimentary reception at 5:45pm | Talk begins at 6:15pm
Vinik Room – The Florida Aquarium

Beluga whales have long fascinated us, with their distinctive white color and diverse vocalizations including whistles, clicks, chirps, and bellows. Prior to joining The Florida Aquarium, Tim Binder worked with beluga whales in human care for over 30 years. Among his most notable accomplishments is a key role developing and implementing animal handling procedures and protocols for health assessments on free-ranging beluga whales in a remote area of southwest Alaska. This established baseline health parameters of belugas in a region where subsistence hunting occurs. Concerns over how this population would be impacted by planned industrial development, and how it might affect both beluga and human health, was a key driver for this project.

A respected leader in animal welfare, husbandry and conservation for over 40 years, Tim Binder is senior vice president of animal care & health and facilities at The Florida Aquarium. He oversees world-class animal care, including a large team of biologists and veterinarians, as well as engineering, water quality, marine operations and dive safety operations. He has served in numerous leadership and advisory roles for a variety of organizations, including the American Humane Association’s Scientific Advisory Committee in which he helped develop the Association’s Humane Conservation Certification program that certifies humane treatment of animals in human care at zoological facilities. As a member of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) task force, he worked collaboratively for the development of animal welfare standards for cetaceans in AZA accredited facilities. He has led world-renowned organizations, pioneered new animal care practices, and much more through outstanding leadership, depth of experience, and strategic vision.

Join us to learn how Tim’s work helped to make beluga whale health assessments possible through development of safe animal handling techniques and accumulation of scientific data that became the benchmark to compare data from free-ranging belugas.

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