I spent my ten-week internship in the marine mammals husbandry department of the Mystic Aquarium in Mystic, Connecticut. Initially, I was shown all the tasks that I was expected to complete throughout my workday which began at 7:00 a.m. and ended at 3:30 p.m. I had previously volunteered during the spring semester of my junior year, but only as an afternoon volunteer, so I had much to learn.

I quickly learned the morning routine, which involved mostly cleaning and food preparation for the day. Some of these tasks were not the most pleasant but they were important in maintaining the health and safety of the animals. These tasks included such things as netting and brushing pools, emptying skimmers, washing display windows, hosing beaches, weighing out buckets of fish, and stuffing fish with appropriate vitamins. Beginning around 9:00 a.m. the daily feedings of all the animals took place. The groups of animals are separated into pinnipeds, whales, dolphins, and penguins. Each day I usually worked with a different group of animals, but the majority of my work was with pinnipeds because my research focused on Northern Fur Seals.

At the start of each day, I was assigned to pinnipeds, whales or dolphins, and rarely to penguins. At each designated feeding time, I was assigned to a particular animal and given its bucket of fish. Depending on the group of animals being fed, a target pole or toys accompanied the fish. This allowed for a training session with the animal where it earned its food. All training sessions used only positive reinforcement. A typical day with pinnipeds involved feeding four different groups of animals, both in the morning and in the afternoon. The first group to be fed was a collection of male fur seals, harbor seals, and a California sea lion. This particular collection was kept off exhibit from the public but they were treated the same as the exhibited collection of animals. The Atlantic and Pacific harbor seals located in the Alaskan Coast exhibit were fed next. Throughout the summer, the staff worked intensively on moving them from their normal "seat" on the beach into a holding pool. I was able to assist with this training project. Pool II or the collection of Northern Fur Seals was fed next and their training involved targeting and layouts. Each staff member used a target pole and asked the seals to touch their noses on the end of the pole. Layouts involved having an animal lay down so staff members could examine that animal. Lastly, the Steller sea lions were fed and the staff worked a great deal on moving them from the beach into the backup area. This routine was repeated after lunch beginning with the off exhibit collection.

A typical day with the whales was far different because there were only three whales rather than four separate groups to feed and train. The whales were fed twice in the morning and either two or three times throughout the afternoon. Each feeding session was also a training session for the whales. Toys always accompanied the bucket of fish and each whale was asked to perform behaviors given in response to hand signals (discriminatory stimuli). In addition to the feedings, there was time for enrichment sessions that involved toys, ice or tactile stimuli. Also, during most of the summer, one or two of the whales were on medicine prescribed by the aquarium veterinarian, so this required an extra feeding period, usually in the early morning. I was able to assist the staff in some of their training projects in addition to asking the whales to perform behaviors I had previously been taught by staff.

The last group of animals that I worked closely with was the dolphins. The aquarium houses two Atlantic bottlenose dolphins named Misty and Stormy. This experience was less hands-on because Stormy occasionally bit staff, so they were concerned for the safety of anyone who did not work with him on a daily basis. Throughout the day, the dolphin staff performed six demonstrations. During the demos, I usually ran the sound booth or went out on stage to help with either gating or a training project being shown to the audience. Aside from the demos, I was able to do enrichment with Misty and Stormy using toys and ice. As the summer progressed, I was able to help with feeding sessions as well. Towards the end of the summer, Stormy was diagnosed with an infection in his tail, and I helped with three different procedures that involved netting him, pulling him out of the water in a stretcher, and holding him still for radiographs and injections. This was a wonderful hands-on experience.
Although the majority of the day was rewarding and fun, there were times that involved a great deal of cleaning. Each afternoon at the conclusion of all feedings, the kitchen was thoroughly scrubbed, all garbage was removed, and floors and doors were scrubbed and rinsed. Working in an aquarium requires dedication and hard work.

Aside from my typical daily routine, I also worked on Northern Fur Seal breeding behavior research throughout the ten weeks. Each day I would spend at least one hour if not more observing the colony of eight female fur seals and their interactions with the one breeding male in the pool. This semester I am going to analyze these data and do a literature search to complete an independent study comparing breeding behavior of seals in captivity and in their natural environment in the wild. I learned a great deal about myself through this internship. I had a most wonderful experience that has led me to believe I want a job as an aquarist or as an animal trainer when I graduate from Connecticut College. I am returning to Mystic Aquarium as a volunteer once a week starting later in September and I am very much looking forward to it.