For those of you that may not know, I am an aspiring marine animal trainer (along with 120348210348123491284301392Q@$@#$!$)I* other people). This past summer was my first time actually working hands-on with marine mammals. Although it was a time filled with ups and downs, it undoubtedly reinforced my desire to pursue this path, no matter how difficult and long. Now, moving on from the sappy/inspirational stuff, lets recall my summer:
Lesson # 1: My body moves faster than my brain sometimes
I'll never forget the first couple of weeks at my internship. I was SO STINKING EXCITED to be working in a new place with FREAKIN' DOLPHINS that I could hardly contain myself. I honestly don't remember the last time I was THAT pumped about ANYTHING. Below is a pretty accurate depiction of how my face looked the first time I touched a dolphin:
OH EM GEE DOLF-ANS!!!!
Whenever the trainers asked me to help them with ANYTHING, I was usually quick to oblige...perhaps a little too quick. There is such a thing as being overly eager and although I had good intentions (to help out, of course), I normally ended up busting my butt, slicing a finger, bumping my head against random objects, and last but not least, slipping off a bridge into one of our dolphin habitats. No wonder I was awarded with "Most Likely To Fall" on our last day. Alas, although I am probably now known as the "accident-prone intern that doesn't stop talking", I do have some pretty funny memories. Lesson I learned: let my brain work before my body aka CHILL THE HECK OUT.
Lesson #2: You can stuff more than you think you can...
That's what she said.
Alright, so before the dirty jokes and sexual innuendos begin, let me explain. Even though I had some experience stuffing fish prior to this internship, you would have never guessed it prior to this moment. The first time I was asked to place a few vitamins inside some capelin (small fish), you would think that I was just asked to solve world hunger. I SLOWLY and CAREFULLY placed an individual pill into one fish at a time. Not only did it take me forever because I kept dropping stuff all over the place, but I couldn't figure out which orifice to place the pill in (SO MANY CHOICES! The anus, the mouth, the gills, TOO MANY DECISIONS!) By the time I had prepared my 1 med fish, everyone was standing around their buckets waiting for me. Luckily, my mentor had a good sense of humor and showed me the "proper" way of stuffing aka just shove as many as you can into a tiny capelin and move on. Lesson I learned: there is such a thing as paying TOO much attention to detail.
Lesson #3: Dolphins aren't really intimidating...until you have their full attention
I'll never forget the first time I had a training session with a dolphin. My mentor just handed me the fish bucket and just said "here ya go" like it was nothing. It was finally time to spread my wings and apply everything that I had learned up until that point to an actual training session. It shouldn't be hard, right? All I had to do was ask for some simple hand targets and reinforce accordingly, all while being watched by both experienced trainers and your animal. "Ask her for a hand target."....It was like all common sense and training knowledge had suddenly vanished.
This looks about right.
When I finally did come back to planet Earth, my hand signals made it seem like I was trying to do some alien robotic dance. I'm also pretty sure that what I was trying to tell my animal and what my mentor was telling me to do were completely opposite. I'm thankful that both my mentor and my dolphin were in a patient mood that day.
I have no clue what she's doing.
Lesson I learned: it's okay to make mistakes. Be confident!
Lesson #4: Dolphins are awesome, but so are penguins...and seals...and sea lions...and otters
The facility I interned at currently houses only one species of marine mammal, which are the dolphins. At one point during the summer, some of us got the chance to visit other facilities that housed all kinds of marine animals including, but not limited to: California sea lions, harbor seals, African black-footed penguins, Asian small-clawed otters, etc. Getting a chance to learn about them and how they're trained was one of the coolest parts of my summer! Everyone always gets so hyped up about dolphins and whales. Dolphins and whales are amazing animals, but one lesson that I learned from this summer is that other "less popular" species are just as cool (if not cooler, haha...penguin joke). I know now that I want to work at a facility that has a variety of critters because you can benefit from those experiences just as much as you can working with the more "popular species". Also, did I mention HOW STINKIN' CUTE ASIAN SMALL-CLAWED OTTERS ARE??!! Lesson I learned: don't be too picky.
Love me, or else.
Lesson #5: Patience
Probably one of the most valuable things I learned (and I'm still learning), is to be patient. In my case, it's waiting for a full-time job. Sometimes, even when you make a good impression and work your very hardest, life doesn't always go by your plans. The marine mammal field is probably one of the most competitive fields out there and it is a cut-throat industry. On top of that, doing one internship doesn't always guarantee a job (in fact, most of the time it doesn't). That's not to say that getting a job in this field doesn't involve networking and working hard, but I've learned that a lot of it has to do with timing and persistence. It's important to keep your chin up and keep pushing! If your heart is in it than it will all pay off in the end (that's what I tell myself, anyway). I wouldn't trade anything in the world for the experiences that I've had working with animals and I'm beyond excited to do it again one day! Lesson I learned: keep my eyes on the prize and stay positive. (Sappy spiel over). Until next time guys!
Woohoo a fellow blogger!!!! Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteYes mam! You do the same :)
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