Only 2 weeks left?! Where has the time gone? It doesn't feel like my time here is up yet, but it's definitely coming to an end. I am looking forward to MSQ but I'll miss the belugas and seals.
Today we celebrated the seals' 4th birthday! We froze ice toys, got snow, jello and ice cubs and put it in a little kid sandbox and let them have at it. I think it was a little overwhelming for them, but they seemed to enjoy it a little, with the push of the trainers. My days seem to be flying by... I love being at work, everyone is awesome and although it's a lot of cleaning and hard work, it is definitely worth it. Like I've been saying, we get to have our own whales more and more. Recently, they've just handed us buckets and followed them out to the platforms to help do a session, or gate, or just feed. Today I got to have Beethoven and Qinu during a BFIP. The trainer pointed the whale at me and told me I could only do point follows and hand targets as a way to keep the whale engaged while she timed me for 1 minute to see how well I could do. So 1 minute came and went and after a few minutes I had to send a whale to the ledge. But she said that I had good energy with the whale and did some different things that you don't think about normally doing that changes things up for the whales. We've also been given more behaviors to do with the whales when we get them for sessions, which is awesome! Here's a few pictures from today:
Hey Taylor,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Tyler, I have just completed an internship at the Indy Zoo and I have applied for one of the aquariums intern positions for the Spring term. I am really interested in working with the Belugas and Harbor seals. I read on an IMATA forum that an intern is placed with a certain animal and stays in that area for the entire term (for instance with the otters, penguins, belugas and seals,... etc)
I was wondering if you could tell me when you find out which animals you will be working with, for example when you are offered a position, or on the first day you show up at the aquarium.
I'm not sure if you check this blog anymore, but if you do I would love to hear from you!
Thanks!!