By 83-year-old Merlin Tuttle has spent his lifetime studying and educating the world on a mammal that he said everyone hated.
An ecologist, preservationist, photographer and educator, Tuttle’s 65-year vocation has sought to protect and redefine the perception of the long misunderstood bat.
Tuttle is one of many authors, conservationists and academics that share their research and mission to the Long Beach community through the Aquarium of the Pacific’s “First Wednesdays” series, which focuses on animal and nature conservation efforts.
“Everyone would much rather kill bats than save bats. How the hell was I going to succeed?” Tuttle said. “I learned early on that arguing with people that they shouldn’t kill bats didn’t work. If you win enough friends, you don’t need a battle. That has been my bottom line thesis over the years.”
Tuttle said that his fascination with bats originates from the fact that little is known about them.
As Tuttle retold the snippets of his accolades of saving millions of bat populations globally, the near full audience within the Aquarium of the Pacific erupted in applause.
Softly spoken yet punctual, Tuttle did not pause within his lecture and continued forward – with audience members quickly muting their applause to catch each word.
Mindia Robin, or as she referred to herself, “Bat Woman,” often attends the Aquarium’s First Wednesday’s as a volunteer during the following arts and craft hour. On Oct. 16, Robin attended Tuttle’s lecture in spirit with her own crafted costume. Photo credit: Julia Goldman
Within these retellings, Tuttle emphasized how crucial bats are toward the balance of ecology, through their contributions as the world’s best pollinators, their nature within pest control and their impact on fertilization and reforestation.
Additionally, Tuttle said that bats are incredibly intelligent and sophisticated. They can be trained to fly and recall, and recent studies within their social structure confirm Tuttle’s previous hypotheses that bats have friendships with each other.
“It’s now well documented that they assist each other, hang out and put themselves at risk to help friends,” Tuttle said. “They’re pretty incredible.”
Sisters Daniela (left) and Aime Alvarez (right) pose with their bat creations in the Aquarium of the Pacific’s arts, crafts and cocktail hour following the First Wednesday’s lecture. Photo credit: Julia Goldman
In a period of history where emerging headlines like “Rabid bat bites woman,” “Swarm critters driving state workers batty” and “State urges caution around bats” almost caused the extinction of gray bats, Tuttle sought to combat uninformed stigma through friendship.
Tuttle recounts an experience with the Old Millie Hill mine in Northern Michigan, when the Cleveland Mining Company sought to abandon and bury the mine, with a large population of bats inside.
Uncooperative in answering his phone calls, Tuttle took a separate approach.
“I ended up going to the school where their children went and did a program for the children, and the children loved my bats,” Tuttle said. “I promised them that if they could get their parents to take them to a talk I was going to give at the county library two nights later, that I would show them all kinds of really cool bats.”
To Tuttle’s surprise, 200 parents and children showed up to his talk. Instead of lecturing the parents for not returning his calls, Tuttle said that he simply told them the truth about the value of bats.
From there, Tuttle said that so many people volunteered their expertise, labor and materials that the mining company saved 90% of their anticipated closure costs because people wanted to save the bats.
“We didn’t embarrass them in the newspaper, we didn’t take them to court,” Tuttle said. “We could’ve easily speculated that there were probably some endangered Indiana bats in the cave and gone into litigation… but instead, we gave them a chance to volunteer and gave them full credit.”
Following Tuttle’s lecture on Oct. 16, a group of audience members form a tight-knit circle around his seat to ask questions and listen to his teachings. Photo credit: Julia Goldman
Continuing to carry on his desire of informing the world upon the significance of bats, Tuttle encouraged attendees to join him in saving the long misconstrued but vital organisms through his organization, Merlin Tuttle’s Bat Conservation.
Tuttle’s next goal is to combine education with fun for the millions of people who love bats through a bat entertainment center.
“We now have millions instead of extinction because we have friends in bat conservation,” Tuttle said.
The “First Wednesdays” series is available each month, for $5 pre-sale and $10 at the door. Next month’s lecture on Nov. 6 features a discussion on the value of recycled water within the state of California.
