Internship Explained pt 1

Homo sapiens contemplating life while living in a fantastic environment but receiving no pay

Hey so I decide to share a blog post about what I am doing at my internship to stay in touch with my older friends and family ;). Since most of you don't talk to me via snap chat and I can't say anything PG over facebook I'd love to explain whats been happening in this space!

I'm currently in Marathon, Florida on an internship with Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters. Marathon is in the Florida Keys almost exactly halfway between Mainland and Key West. The population here is a around 10,000 people in a city about 9.6 square miles big. Florida Keys Aquarium Encounters is an interactive aquarium which offers many activities for guest to participate in which involve very close contact with our animals.

I am currently living with the other intern and my kitties in a vacation rental condo about 1 mile from a beautiful beach. My roommate and I get along wonderfully and we enjoy going to the beach, reading, drawing, watching movies, harry potter and talking about animals in our spare time :). The kitties are adjusting well. My roommate and I have opposite work schedules so someone is almost always home to spend time with them and they have a lot of new creatures to look at outside the window.

The Aquarium consists of a lagoon, sting ray cove,  nursery touch tank, tide pool touch tank, nurse shark and grouper exhibit, turtle and tortoise exhibit, coral reef exhibit and predator reef exhibit. All animals in the facility are native to Florida except the tortoises (african spurred, red footed and yellow footed) which were donated to the facility due to need and may be relocated in the future to a more appropriate home when proper replacements are found.

The lagoon uses water from the Vaca cut that pours in to a canal which was dug in a horse shoe shape in the 1950's and houses nurse shark, goliath grouper, parrotfish, barracuda, tarpon, jack, permit and more. Guests can purchase food at any time to throw out to feed the parrot fish and other smaller fish. A feeding of the tarpon and goliath grouper is performed by a biologist at certain times of the day while explaining and answering questions. Guests can purchase an encounter for the lagoon which includes donning wet suits and snorkeling throughout the lagoon for the duration of an hour or so.

Cownose Ray

Sting ray cove holds many cownosed rays, 1 spotted eagle ray, 3 southern ray which guests can pet as much as they desire or purchase food (raw capelin) to feed using a stick or can purchase an encounter which the guest(s) don wet suits and actually get in the water with the rays and feed them by hand with the guidance of a biologist. I have learned that cownosed rays are much like puppies and recognize those wearing work shirts and will smother them with attention in hopes of food. The largest of the southern rays who is nick named big mama is known for propelling herself up the side of the tank to the point of exposing a lot of her body to unsuspecting guests and consequently startling many children, which I find amusing.

The nursery holds smaller southern ray, atlantic ray and yellow ray. Any guest can touch the animals in this tank as well and also purchase an encounter in which the participant feeds the smaller rays with a spear. Currently a couple of the yellow rays and one atlantic ray is pregnant. Rays give live birth and I'm hoping desperately some are born while I am working. Baby rays are adorable, and the yellow rays are spotted and look like cute little cookies.

Spotted Burrfish

Big shark bay holds 3 nurse shark, 2 black grouper, a goliath grouper, a cubera snapper and a spotted burrfish. Feedings for the snapper, burrfish and grouper are performed in front of guests by a biologist while the biologist also explains what they're doing and answer any questions guests may have while watching. Nurse shark encounter is a popular offer which can be purchased. In this encounter the guests get to personally feed a nurse shark which is target trained to hold still on a target while the guest feeds it and pets it. This encounter is fun because you get to touch a nurse shark and see the efforts the biologists have put in to training sharks (I didn't know sharks could be trained like this!).

The tide pool touch tank holds horseshoe crab, sea stars, urchins, shrimp, crab and gastropods such as queen conch. The pool is shallow and guests are encouraged to touch all the animals underwater. I enjoy this exhibit because it holds more of the "gross" animals many are inclined to avoid in daily outdoor activities.

The turtle exhibit holds a variety of freshwater turtles that are not normally found in the Keys but are common throughout florida's rivers, lakes and everglades. Guests cannot touch any of our reptiles but are encouraged to feed them during a public tortoise feeding guided by a biologist or purchase turtle food for the freshwater turtles.

Bonnet Head Shark

Predator Reef holds black nose sharks, black tip sharks, sand bar shark, bonnet head shark, goliath grouper, moray eel, pufferfish, jack, and other predatory reef fish. Guests cannot swim in this tank but can feed the larger predators through holes during a coral reef encounter.

A Mobula Ray also called Devil Ray or Devil Fish

Coral Reef tank holds over 50 species of tropical and lagoon fish such as angel fish, grunts, snappers, hogfish, tang, snook, carribean spiny lobster, and our main attraction: Mobula rays. Guests can purchase an encounter for this tank and snorkel with the fish, swim on the bottom if they're certified for scuba, feed the predators in the next tank as mentioned, and feed the eagle ray and other fish while swimming with them. Guests also can witness a Mobula Ray feeding in which a biologist feeds the rays a cloud of krill from a squirt bottle as they line up one by one to swim through it to feed. Mobula rays are only found in 3 aquariums in the United States, so it's pretty cool to be working at a place which houses them.

So that's just a general overview of the features of the Aquarium! I will be sure to post again with what exactly I am doing while I work, I just had to explain the place for any of my duties to make sense. I definitely also need to post pictures of my favorite animals so far so thanks for reading this much and I'll update eventually!