Manatees

A huge part of the marine mammal internship is learning about and caring for the manatees! The Seas is home to 2 West Indian Manatees, Lil Joe and Lou. We are a manatee rehabilitation center, which means both of our manatees are rescued and we hope to eventually release them back into the wild. Lou was rescued after a boat strike accident and Lil Joe was originally rescued as an orphan. Usually the interns cover the manatee stage. We are there to feed the manatees, make behavioral observations, answer guest questions, and make sure that both the guests and the manatees remain safe. We also give spiels twice an hour (unless another presentation is happening) where we talk for about 10 minutes on microphone about manatees.

My spiel begins by introducing the manatees and I talk about how to tell the difference between them. I then go into how we are a manatee rehabilitation center and how/why the manatees were rescued. I talk about what manatees eat and who their closest relative is (it's an elephant!). From there I go on to explain how manatees are marine mammals and talk about the 5 characteristics of a mammal and how manatees exhibit all of those. Finally, I wrap up with a conservation message about how it's illegal to interact with a wild manatee and what people can do to help manatees! Even though it's only been a few weeks, I already feel very comfortable giving my spiel and answering questions about the manatees. I've also had a lot of great, informative conversations with guests (with the occasional 'where is the bathroom' question thrown in as well)!

I've loved learning about the manatees and getting to be a part of their daily care. It's been a great experience and I'm excited to learn and experience even more during this dream internship! If you have any questions about the manatees, feel free to let me know in the comments below and definitely come check them out at The Seas with Nemo and Friends in Epcot!

Marine Mammals - Finally!

I just finished my first week working with the marine mammal team at The Seas and I could not be more thrilled! After weeks of long and tedious training in classrooms, it felt great to finally get to meet my team and see some of the work I'll be doing throughout the internship. 

This week I trained the 8-5 shift, which is the middle shift. There are two other shifts, opening and closing, which I will learn in the weeks to come. Each shift has a different focus, but the middle shift is most focused on guest interaction, which was a perfect start for me! This week I wrote and was approved to give my manatee spiel! About every 30 minutes (unless there is another presentation), someone will give a talk on the stage about manatees. There are two manatees at The Seas, Lil' Joe and Lou. My spiel revolves around sharing information about the manatees, talking about our manatee rehabilitation work, and giving information about manatee diet, adaptations, and conservation issues. So far I really like being on the manatee stage! I like getting to interact with guests and answer questions about the manatees and I especially like getting to feed the manatees their lettuce heads. I even like spieling! The first time I did it I was really nervous, but after getting the first one out of the way I feel so much more comfortable and actually enjoy doing them now! And, I've already caught on to some of the most popular manatee questions (do they only eat lettuce?!)

I have also done a lot of cleaning this week. One big lesson I learned is that cleaning anything is better in the water! I have gone scuba diving to clean the manatee exhibit, scrubbed the walls of the dolphin back pools, pressure washed the decks, and used the power scrubber to clean the floor of the dolphin pools! It's been a lot of hard work, but being in the water makes it a lot more fun. Besides that I also learned how to do some fish prep and a lot of other kitchen tasks. 

The third task I have been focusing on this week is observing sessions. I've watched several of the dolphin research sessions as fell as some fish feeding and marine biology sessions. I need to observe these so I can eventually learn how to narrate these sessions as well! I love watching the dolphin research sessions because not only are the dolphins adorable, but they are really smart and it's so interesting to see how they think!

While this has been a great first week, it has also been an exhausting one. I forgot how tired you get after being on your feet for 8 hours a day! Additionally, I'm in the process of adjusting my sleep schedule to waking up early... it's been rough so far, but I hope I can adjust to going to bed early and getting up early soon!

All in all, I would say this has been a very successful first week. I've learned a lot, had some fun, and finally achieved my dream of being a member of the marine mammal team at The Seas!