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After a quarter of a century, John Nightingale is leaving the Vancouver Aquarium a radically different organization than the one he came to in 1993.

Only the second director in the aquarium’s 62-year history, Nightingale announced Thursday that he would be retiring at the end of 2018, triggering a global search for his replacement.

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“On the mission side, I will carry on my interest in oceans and ocean conservation. Some of how I work on that will change,” he said in an interview. “I won’t have to do all that paperwork.”

Nightingale will continue his term on Polar Knowledge Canada’s board and will work on some of the research being done by the aquarium, through the Ocean Wise Conservation Association.

Asked about his most important legacy, Nightingale said he’s proudest of having transformed a local institute into a global force for ocean conservation that involves people around the world in ocean issues.