|
[
April 17th, 2008 ï 8:12pm
] |
Well, i'm back in Canada now, and my internship has officially come to an end.
And let me tell you, it was arguably the best experience i've ever had. I went all the way to Australia to the little Pet Porpoise Pool to find out if training animals was really want to do for the rest of my life, and to find out if I was cut out for it.
I can now say with 100% certainty that I want to train animals for a living. Working with marine mammals will remain my ultimate goal.
Let me break things down for you ... if I don't, i'll be typing for a very long time!
What I have learned
This list could go on for ever, but I will list a few major points that I have taken away from this.
- Basically, the most valuable thing I have gained from this is that I have found my calling.
- That patience is EXTREMELY important, and that not everyone can train animals.
What would I change
- The length of my stay. As in, I would like to have stayed at least a month longer. Although I had reached the end of my internship, and would not "move up" the ladder any further, I enjoyed doing the job so much, and no matter what, I learned something new everyday.
- I would changed who I stayed with. Although living with Paige, the manager and CEO of the park, was very insightful in many ways (I got a lot of inside information on what was going on, and how the politics of marine parks operate), staying with a younger staff member would be preferable.
Highlights
- Ummmm, EVERYTHING.
- Being around people who care for, and appreciate animals.
- Learning first hand how a marine park operates, and what happens "behind the scenes" with various operations.
- Laughing with the amazing training staff at the park.
- Teaching the public about these animals and sharing them with the world! That sounds so corny, but I love how people react to you when you are working with the animals. Its the best feeling in the world!
- Playing with Tilly on my second last day!
- Watching the training sessions with the sea lions.
- Learning!
Where do I go from here?
- It has always been my general goal to complete at least two internships before I complete university. This internship in Australia was really a trial run for me, and I am now happy to say that I will continue down the path of animal training.
In September, I will head back to university for second year, to continue studying psychology.
Now I feel completely refreshed and inspired. Doing this internship opened my eyes and gave me a big boost of re-newed confidence. Now that I know how amazing the prize is at the end, I will not stop following the road to becoming a marine mammal trainer.
( Photos )
If any of you wanna-be animal trainers has the chance to do an internship, TAKE IT!
I miss the park, animals, country, and people so much already, and have made up my mind that I am definitely going to apply for a VISA and try for a job there in a few years when I am done university.
|
|
[
March 25th, 2008 ï 3:33am
] |
Sorry for not updating lately!
I am now sorry to say that my time at the park is nearly over. I only have a week and a half left. I really really want to stay longer. This way of life, this job, is something that I am enjoying SO much. Every day here is a gift, and I get to learn first hand how this profession and institution works. This really is an eye opening experience, and I would not trade it for the world!
The last two weeks have been quite a roller coaster ride for the park. I witnessed a really dark side of becoming a marine mammal trainer, as one of the trainers on staff, the one I was closest with, got the sack. It was very hard to see her crying ... she reminded me of myself, and many others I know. She always dreamed of working with marine mammals, and was fired because her supervisors saw no potential in her as an animal trainer. So basically, her dreams were crushed, and it wasn't really even her fault.
However, its not all bad!
Here are some highlights from the past week or so:
- holding Bella again
- doing the penguin feeding sessions on my own
- attending a presentation on dolphins for a group of Japanese students. I was there as an assistant of sorts, but i had lots of fun sitting there for two hours listening to a lecture on dolphins. it was all very basic stuff, since the students are just learning english, but still, it was dolphin stuff after all. I can't really complain.
- sitting in on a trainer's meeting
- helping with morning dolphin checkup (rolling them over by the flukes, checking for new rake marks and what not)
- taking various sea lions for "walks" in the afternoon around the park
- going into select sea lion enclosures to clean the pools
- going into the seal pup's enclosure and playing with them. Awwww!!
- helping out with dolphin training sessions in the afternoon (I get to send a dolphin, or multiple dolphins, into the other pool, as well as controlling the gate between the pools and stuff like that)
- helping with Merlin's (he is our awesome Australian fur seal!) "sail swim" (he swims along the front of the show pool with one fin raised to look like the sail of a boat). I get to give him the signal for the behavior when he is half way across the pool, as he is having trouble going all the way by him self. Jo (his trainer) says that it will be easier to phase out someone standing at the half way point and giving him the signal again, than to phase out herself walking across the pool with him.
I'm really sorry also for the lack of photos. Its really not that easy to get shots though, because when something "exciting" is happening, there is no time for me to grab the camera, and it is not proper of me to carry it around with me at all times.
( Click here for random photos and video )
Thanks for reading again!
|
|
[
March 18th, 2008 ï 11:20pm
] |
As my second week comes to a close, I thought I should update you all on my progress at "The Pool"!
|
|
[
March 15th, 2008 ï 1:24am
] |
Well, thats one week down, four and a half to go in my internship!
It was pretty tiring overall, on account of I still have jetlag. But really, I was only tired when I got home from work. At work, I felt fine and rather energized! Its a pretty engaging kind of job, so I am never bored really.
|
|
[
March 9th, 2008 ï 12:10am
] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 tired |
] |
Oh my gosh.
I did NOT handle my 23 hour travel day well at all. This is my first time this is my first time traveling overseas so I really had no idea what to expect.
It is now two and a half days since I landed, and i'm still not operating at 100%. I'm still over the Pacific ocean somewhere I think.
Not to mention, I'm pretty overwhelmed to actually be in Australia! The town I am in, Coffs Harbour, is quite lovely so far. Its a quaint little place, nestled right on the ocean and flanked by mountains. Its really a nice change to be in a tropical environment for once!
Anyway, I have just completed my first two days of internship! I wasn't officially supposed to start until today, but yesterday I went down to the park just for fun, and asked if I could help out at all, and ended up being there all day!
I got thrown into the melee as soon as I got there. I was shown the way down to the fish house and was told by the trainer who was down there to start bucketing fish for Rocky (one of the young seals). There I was, elbow deep in bloody, scaly water, getting the occasional stab from a fish spine. Finally, for the first time I felt like a marine mammal trainer!
The park was understaffed that day, so there was not much time to explain things to me. I got to help prep some fish (for Rocky and for the reef tank feeding, which requires you to fillet the fish, which i'm utter rubbish at), do crowd control for the dolphin kissing session, feed the fairy penguins (twice), prepare the food for Mildred (the Emu) and the kangaroos, clean the fish prep room, break up big ice blocks with fish in them for the seals to play with, feed Charlotte (our blind New Zealand Furseal), feed the turtles, hand out fish to guests during the reef tank feeding, feed Harriot the pelican, and cleaning!
Boy oh boy, there is quite a lot to be done, and I felt really awkward during a lot of the first day, because I had no time to absorb anything! For example, when I was helping with the penguin feeding session, I had to hand out fish to people, and explain the rules of feeding, and answer all these questions that people where asking about the animals and the park it self. Of coarse, I couldn't answer them properly, because I am like a guest my self! I had just got there, and had no formal training on anything!
But all in all, I really liked the challenges that were thrown on me yesterday, and I think I did alright. I just smiled through it all.
Today was my first formal day at the park.
They were still understaffed, so there was rarely anyone there to tell me exactly what to do. I made the best of it though, and tried to repeat all what I had learned yesterday, so I was able to carry out many tasks with no one asking me to.
I got to watch a lot more training sessions today, and got to help out a little bit in the show. There is a part where a child is taken from the audience to brush one of the dolphin's teeth. My job was to guide the kid over to the correct spot and help them up to the side of the pool if necessary, and tell them to only brush the teeth, not the gums or tongue. Also, I have to place a trash can out on stage as part of the show at one part.
I did not do fish prep this morning (I think the trainers down there were a little stressed out and did not want to be teaching at such a hectic moment, haha), but instead. I cleaned off the walls of the main show pool.
During my lunch break I went up and played with Bella (our youngest dolphin) and Zippy (also a dolphin) and I also got to feed Charlotte the blind fur seal again! She is really sweet. After you have fed her out, we tap her on the nose so she knows we are done with the feed. She lives with a 20 month old sub-antarctic fur seal named Tilly, who is SUCH a brat to poor Charlotte! Small dog syndrome, I reckon.
I guess the highlight of my day was when I got to feed out Zippy the dolphin while the three other trainers where working with the other three dolphins. I also got to target him with my hand.
I feel like I have learned a heap of information about this profession already from talking with all the training staff. And crikey its only been two days!
Phew, i'm really tired.
Sorry, no photos yet. I'm trying to work out a way for someone to take some for me.
|
| Leaving soon! |
[
February 19th, 2008 ï 11:32am
] |
| [ |
mood |
| |
 anxious |
] |
| [ |
music |
| |
Shpongle - "Around the World in a Tea Daze" |
] |
Oh boy.
Well, this is more of a test journal than anything, but also, a place to note that OH MY GOD i'm leaving in a meer 15 days.
Where did the time go?! I have so many things to do before I leave! Lets see ... get proper foot wear, wax (ack!), stock up on random travel amenities ...
At least I have all my flight/accomodation on the other end prepared. I totally lucked out and am staying with the manager of Pet Porpoise Pool! She sounds really nice, and is, ironically, from Canada herself! Not to far from where I live now actually.
I'm very excited to be leaving on this journey to really start working on my dream.
|
| navigation |
| [ |
viewing |
| |
most recent entries |
] |
|
|
|
|
| | | | |
