Sealy Summer

This summer I had the incredible opportunity to be an intern at Gulfarium Marine Adventure Park in Fort Walton Beach, Florida. From May to August I worked alongside the marine mammal training staff. A typical day consisted of greeting and informing guests for animal programs, watching training sessions, and lots and lots of cleaning. I also assisted a trainer with diet preparation two times a week. Sorting and weighing fish at five in the morning sounds terrible, but having fun trainers with great music made it better. Throughout the internship I learned three animal narrations. I hated these at first, but as the summer went on informing the guests about the animals was one of my favorite things. I loved waking up every morning knowing I would see amazing animals. We had dolphins, sea lions, otters, penguins, tropical birds, and my favorite, harbor seals. The seal in the picture is Milo. He was really sweet and super silly.

On my days off from the internship I shadowed the veterinarian at the Gulfarium. We mostly worked on sea turtles that had been caught by fisherman. It was a great feeling to help the turtles and then see them be able to be released back into the ocean. I also saw caiman, stingrays and eel physical exams. Working with the veterinarian was one of the highlights of my summer. It confirmed by goal to become an aquatic animal veterinarian.

Speaking of veterinarians, this summer I also applied to veterinary school. This was a stressful and tiring task, but I finally turned in my application. I want to thank everyone who has helped me get this far, especially this Creative Inquiry team. I have learned so much about the ocean and conservation from CMR. I can't wait to continue making memories this semester.

Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” Genesis 1:26