In memory of our colleague and friend
The Primorsky Aquarium staff members are grieving over the unimaginable loss of Mikhail Streltsov, one of the founders of the scientific and educational center and Head of the Department of Tropical Marine Species Husbandry. He passed away at the age of 61.
Mikhail Sergeyevich Streltsov was born in Saratov. In 1981 he graduated with a specialty in Fish Pathology and Fish Culture from the Kaliningrad Technical Institute of the Fishing Industry and Economy. In 1982 he began his career in the Laboratory of Coastal Marine Fishes of the Russian Far East at the Pacific Ocean Research Institute of Fisheries and Oceanography. In 1991 he moved to the newly created Vladivostok Aquarium established by the TINRO center.
Mikhail Streltsov joined the Primorsky Aquarium at its very inception in April 2011. His contribution to enhancing the Aquarium’s standing in the professional community both in Russia and worldwide cannot be overemphasized: his name is well known to experts from Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam and Philippines who have always trusted his opinion. Mikhail Streltsov was a permanent head of the department responsible for keeping tropical marine organisms; his view of the marine world is represented in the brightest and the most amazing exhibits of the Aquarium. He has developed an unparalleled program called Dancing with Rays and has launched several successful breeding programs for a number of exotic aquatic species.
Mikhail Sergeyevich Streltsov is, and will forever be, a part of the Primorsky Aquarium’s history. Being a charismatic and gifted person, he had great professional intuition, astonishing broadmindedness and a generosity of spirit. Our colleague and friend had a love for life and for the job which he dedicated his life to, and he inspired people around him with this love.
The blessed memory of Mikhail Streltsov will always remain in the hearts of those who were fortunate enough to know him personally, to work with him and to be his mentees.