Monterey >> When Julie Packard, the executive director of the Monterey Bay Aquarium, first met Dr. Thomas Williams, he was rescuing and caring for sea otter pups out of his own bathtub. That was while he was concocting a formula that would replicate the nourishing milk of their mothers, which they needed for survival.
“There wasn’t an aquarium at the time with any place to keep them,” explained Packard, noting the need for otters to groom their fur in water that’s clean.
The Monterey veterinarian eventually became an integral part of opening and running the aquarium’s sea otter exhibit and providing them with veterinary care. Dr. Williams died on Jan. 26 at the age of 75.
“It’s just wonderful to think back on his many contributions – he was really a pioneer in many ways – and a role model,” said Packard, noting his role in opening the aquarium and facilitating its early development. “He was someone you wanted to have on your team.”
It’s because of Dr. Williams’ work at the aquarium with rescued sea otters that he is credited as a key figure in their survival and their presence in aquariums and zoos today. He is also known for developing the surgical technique that places archival tags in tuna to record their trans-oceanic journeys in visual detail, groundbreaking work that took place at the Tuna Research and the Conservation Center. Williams accomplished all this while still maintaining a commitment to his Aguajito Veterinary practice, which he opened in 1978.
“We struck up a relationship with him and he was just an incredibly important contributor in the early years of the aquarium’s development,” said Packard, noting Dr. Williams’ work was on a contractual basis. “I think for starters, very few if any had worked with rescuing them and on the care of orphaned sea otters.”
Aquarium Communications Director Ken Peterson noted that at the time, the otters had been washing up on the beach and nobody had figured out how to save them.
“But he was doing it at home in his bathtub before the aquarium even became an idea,” said Peterson.
Ultimately, Peterson said Dr. Williams helped to elevate veterinarian services as part of the animal care team in public aquariums.
“Now it’s baked into the way public aquariums do business,” he said.
Dr. Williams, who also had an intense love of dogs and horses, never really left the aquarium but instead transitioned from an exhibit-centric role to more of research-centered one. His world class rescue and research program also came in handy after the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska when he set up veterinary care facilities for oil-drenched otters.
In the mid-1990s he developed the technique for surgically placing what is the equivalent of a small computer inside tuna in an effort to record their journey through ocean waters.
Marine biologist and Stanford professor Barbara Block, who collaborated with Dr. Williams at the Tuna Research and Conservation Center, said the technique has led to advancement related to how tunas use the ocean overall.
“Whether in the clinic or here at the lab, he mentored everyone who came into contact with him,” said Block. “He was an intuitive, gentle, warm veterinarian — a man full of incredible knowledge who was easy to talk to.”
Peterson, who also noted Dr. Williams’ involvement with the Monterey Rotary Club and his commitment to programs expanding music education in Monterey Peninsula schools, said it’s that kindness that he’ll be remembered for as much as anything he accomplished in veterinary science.
“He was just that kind of warm caring person – with big bright eyes, a big smile and a big handshake,” said Peterson. “He was definitely larger than life that way.”
Peterson recalled one time in particular when Williams, who was also his dog’s veterinarian, made a personal visit to their home to treat their ailing canine.
“When one of our dogs was dying, he came out to our house,” recalled Peterson. “In his role as a veterinarian, he was caring for the people as much as for their animals.”
Block agreed.
“He was not only tending to the dog but tending to the humans,” said Block. “He was wonderful at providing therapy for both the owner and the animal.”
It’s a sentiment, that since his passing, his wife Jane Williams said many of his clients have expressed to her.
“Clients who had him as their vet for 30 years have told me stories about how they’d come in to his practice in tears and because he had such a way for not only caring for their animals but for people, they felt relieved when they left,” said Williams.
“He was loyal, funny … just endearing,” she added. “To make such a mark on people through his devotion for caring for animals is just remarkable.”
Carly Mayberry can be reached at 831-726-4363.
