Third Week - Goin' Strong!

Over the weekend, my mom came to visit me and I got to take her to the aquarium! She was really only interested in the whale sharks and the belugas. So we sat in front of the whale shark tank for about 15 minutes and volunteer comes over and asks if we would like to see the whale shark tank from above and of course we said yes, So he took us upstairs and told us about the tank and we got to see the top. It was really cool (I got to go up there during my orientation) and my mom loved it and asked tons of questions. After we got done with that we went and sat in front of the beluga tank and watched the belugas for (I kid you not) an hour. I got to tell her all about the four belugas and how they have different personalities and she asked a few questions about how they are trained and what kind of behaviors they do. I even talked her into doing a Beluga Whale & Friends Interaction Program (BFIP) the next time she comes to visit me! I had a lot of fun showing her around the aquarium and talking to her about the animals. We also went shopping and blah blah blah... haha.

 

Here's a few pictures from the aquarium:

 

 

 

So its only the third day of my third week but I felt that I needed to blog today about everything. Yesterday, Brittany and I got to get in the water, twice, for the mock BFIP and Id say it was a pretty awesome day! We got to pet the whales, give them behaviors to do and feed them. The only thing that Im not so hot about is the fact that the water is so cold! The belugas are from the arctic so they have to keep the water at a chilly level for the belugas  to live, so its at 58 degrees. And most of you know how easily cold I get and how cold my hands are all the time. But when you're in the water face to face with a beluga, the water is barely even noticeable.

Many people don't realize how much work it is to be a keeper/trainer of any animal. Like I said, the job itself is 90% cleaning and 10% animal interaction/feeding/anything else. I knew this before going into this internship so it's no suprise to me. Being a trainer, your day is more repetetive than anything. Someone wanting to go in this field should have/gain the personality that doesn't have to have constant change. You have a set schedule to follow everyday, and most of the time that schedule doesn't change (unless of course for unforseeable events or some kind of procedure for the animal). That being said, every training session is always different. You may have a different animal or train a different behavior or not get the right reaction to the behavior you asked them for. This sounds a little boring probably, but it's not something I ever really realized until actually working in the field.

 

Before I actually came to do this internship in Georgia, I was very scared and nervous as to how I would ACTUALLY feel about wanting to be a trainer. I was afraid I wasn't going to love it like I thought I would, and if I didn't love it then where I would go after that. I can now say, with full confidence that I would LOVE to be a marine mammal trainer. I had an idea before of what it consisted of, but I had only done a few programs at SeaWorld that they offer and it of course isn't the same as actually working WITH them. I'm very happy that I got the chance to come here and have this experience. I am very thankful to my parents (for one) that they support me financially and also my dream of becoming a marine mammal trainer, for the Florida Aquarium and Audubon Zoo for giving me previous experience in working with animals and knowledge of what it takes to work with animals and of course for the Georgia Aquarium for giving me a chance and seeing something in me and selecting me as an intern. I love it here.

Mid Second Week!

So, it's only halfway through my second week, but so much has happened already within the first few days! My roommate/co-intern, Brittany and I got to go into the Beluga Whale tank and do a Beluga & Friends Program! That's where guests go into the water with a trainer and stand on a ledge and the trainer has the whales do different behaviors and the guests get to help the trainer with the hand signals, interact, pet and feed the whales. I've done this program at SeaWorld back in Orlando, and I all I can say is that Georgia knows where it's at! I had an awesome time at SeaWorld in Orlando, but here at GAQ, the program is more intimate. Like I said, guests get to actually stand in the water, face to face on the whale's level. At SW we were only kneeling on a ledge. We got to do it both days. The reason we got to do it was because they wanted to get the whales more comfortable doing it. It was a lot of fun and we're looking forward to doing it again! GAQ has four Beluga Whales and 3 Harbor Seals. The names of the Belugas are Beethoven, Maris, Grayson and Qinu and the Seals are Cerberus, Floyd and Rose. Beethoven and Maris are the older of the Belugas and Qinu and Grayson as the younger ones. My favorite is Qinu. She is very vocal, as are all Belugas but she's even more vocal than the others. We walk in and start doing morning tasks, or walk by her, or clean the acrylics and she's got her head out of the water looking at you and starts clicking. It's the cutest thing in the world and she's very nosey. She also LOVES tongue rubs. A tongue rub is a secondary reinforcer, food being a primary. She's always got a ton of energy and she's very smart; the trainers told me that she picks up on behaviors very fast. As for the Seals, we haven't done much with them but my favorite is Cerb because he's chubby!

It's not all fun and games though. 90% of our day is doing food prep; looking over the fish, making sure there is no fish without eyes, or lacerations or guts falling out, we have to throw those fish out, and cleaning buckets along with cleaning period (acrylics, floors, fridge, kitchen, buckets, bathrooms and anything else that needs to be done). The other 10% is training sessions. It may seem like a lot of boring-ness and cleaning but to be able to see these whales 5 days a week is the best feeling ever. I LOVE what I am doing here and I am so very thankful that I got the chance to be here, it's life changing and I wouldn't change it for the world.

I am in Love with what I do. I can't wait to make it a career.

 

These are from when we got to go into the Beluga Whale tank!

 

Here are a few pictures from my Beluga Whale Interaction Program at SW Orlando from back in November 2011!

 

 

First Week!

So as you all know, I accepted an intern position at the Georgia Aquarium, working with the Beluga Whales and Harbor Seals. You also know that I am in LOVE with Belugas and couldn't be more excited to be working with them, so I've put together this blog to track my time here in Atlanta...

 

So I just finished my first week of interning and all I can say is that the Georgia Aquarium is amazing! The exhibits are so big and beautiful! Especially the Whale Shark tank! But anyways, working up on deck with the Belugas and Seals is awesome! I haven't gotten to do much with them yet because I just started and still have much to learn. Basically my day goes as this: Come in, put up dry dive gear, prep food for the first feed/training session (most every time they feed is a training session), watch training session or clean the deck or get water samples from beluga tank, penguin tank, Asian small clawed otter tank, sea otter tank and holding tanks, then clean the buckets from the feed/training session, clean up anything on the task list, prep food for the second feed, watch session, clean buckets, then we have a department meeting with penguin, sea otter, and ASCO (Asian small clawed otter) and talk about what has gone on that morning with animals or any problems, then prep food for the third feed which is a Beluga and Friends Interaction Program where guests have paid to do a program with the Belugas for 30 mins, its a cute little session where they get in the water, meet the belugas up close and personal and get to feed them, pet them, and do some behaviors, if no one has signed up for it, then other interns and I get in for a mock program or they do a session and one intern gets to watch while the other cleans, then we wash buckets from that session and then its lunch time, from 12-1. After lunch we prep food for the fourth feed, watch the session or clean and then clean buckets after session, then we prep food for the last feed which is another Beluga and Friends Program, so the intern that watched the session the first time, now cleans and the other intern gets to watch, then we clean buckets, clean up the "kitchen area" and close out for the day. It sounds pretty uneventful and a lot of cleaning (which it is) but being able to watch and be apart of the training sessions is amazing and more than I can ask for. I am excited for what the aquarium has to hold and I am looking forward to being able to do more with the whales and seals.