I suppose it's that time again. Update! Woohoo! So, I've been pretty busy these days. The first couple days were the hardest I think, because we weren't trained in on anything as far as cleaning, training, etc. Now we know how to do lots of things and I feel like I can make a solid contribution to the team here at Dolphin Quest!
My day consists of a lot of cleaning. A lot. People don't realize that jobs like this are not as glamorous as they're made out to be. We spend a lot of time elbows deep in fish and squid and scales and guts. Lovely right? Most days after I'm off work and relaxing at home I'll find a fish scale stuck to my skin somewhere- those things are stubborn.
The mornings here start off with fish prep and animal checks. We call them DDAs, or Daily Dolphin Assessments. Basically we go down to the docks first thing and do a head count, and then check them over for any scratches or injuries, etc. Essentially a visual checkup. Then we do fish prep. This entails all that elbows deep in fish loveliness. Then usually everyone else comes in to work and we start our routines of cleaning and daily maintenance around the Keep. (The Keep is the part of the military fort that Dolphin Quest is located in.) Intern responsibilities are usually centered around cleaning, Encounter Club (which is suiting up guests in life jackets and shoes for their interactive programs), weighing out fish buckets, and helping the trainers on the docks.
When I'm not on the docks with the trainers and the dolphins, my next favorite thing is taking care of Challenger. He's really grown on me. It's almost therapeutic feeding him. At least for me. The only thing that throws me off about him is his breathing. Sea turtles are really graceful animals-when they're in the water- and they usually breathe once every 2-5 hours. So when he breathes it's almost like a deep gasp. He breathes a lot when we're feeding and so it's just really intense because we're so close to him and he just lets out (or in) this huge gaspy breath. It's like whoa buddy.
Challenger/Sea Turtle facts:
-They live to about 80 years of age, and around 3 feet long and 400 lbs. (Challenger is 200 lbs and 21 years old)
-Sea Turtles have a 1/1000 chance of making it to adulthood (Which is around 21 years of age).
-Challenger is a Green Sea Turtle, and they are named Green Sea Turtles because their body fat is green due to the food they eat. (Lots of sea lettuce, algae, jellyfish, seaweed, comb jellies, etc.)
-Humans are sea turtles' worst enemies: baby turtles follow the moon back to the ocean when they hatch, and since humans like beachfront property so much, the lights on our buildings draw them the wrong way, and so they often die as a result.
-All species of sea turtle are endangered the world over.
-Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Plastic bags often look like jellyfish in the ocean, and since jellyfish are sea turtles' favorite food, they often eat them and then die. And that's sad, so recycle and save them!
Today was a fairly exciting day. I got to work on my layouts with the dolphins. Layouts are really important. We use them as part of our husbandry regimen. Essentially what they are is the dolphin laying in different positions in the water so we can examine them. My favorite part is that I got to hold a 400 lb dolphin in my arms today. :) Very exciting. Those are very basic and common behaviors, so I'm happy that they'll soon be a normal thing for me.
I think that's about it for my update today. If I think of more, I'll try to update again soon. I will also try to upload more pictures!! I hope you're all well and I'll send some more Bermudian sunshine your way!!
Wow, I learned a lot from that blog Kelsey! Thanks for sharing--can't wait for more....
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