Hi! My name is Katie. I am an 18-year-old junior at the Boston Arts Academy where I major in theatre. I am a teen intern at the Aquarium. I work in the Marine Mammals Department one day a week for eight hours. My day starts at 8:00 a.m. and I begin by thawing and preparing fish for the four training sessions with the harbor seals. Before the training sessions I am responsible for cutting the fish into small pieces for the seals. After training sessions I assist the trainers with scrubbing fishy buckets and cleaning the seals' exhibit. In the afternoons I have the opportunity to observe and participate in training sessions with Myrtle the green sea turtle.

My favorite part of my job is helping Reggae practice his new kiss behavior. I act as the guinea pig while Lindsay is teaching him to kiss my cheek. Sometimes he misses my cheek and gets the side of my head or my eye. He drools a lot. Check out this video of a recent session I helped out with.




-Katie

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If you have an interest in marine animals, there are a variety of ways for you to get more involved. Many zoos and aquariums offer volunteer and internship opportunities that give you an up close look at the world of marine animal care and training. There is also a great organization called the International Marine Animal Trainers' Association (IMATA) that provides information on marine animals and the many aquariums, zoos and parks where you can visit them. I joined IMATA two years ago. Just recently some of my coworkers and I attended the annual conference. Luckily for us New Englanders, it was held in sunny Cancun, Mexico!



But marine animals weren't the only things we saw while we were down there ...



Check out Erin's blog for more info on all the cool things we learned and participated in during the conference!

The IMATA organization is open to everyone so if you are looking for a way to find out more about our field, this is a great place to start. Membership includes a quarterly magazine with articles about training and access to a member's section of their website for training ideas, a trainer forum for Q & A, and even an area for job postings. Currently we have over 1300 members but we are always looking for new faces to join the group. You don't have to be a trainer to be a member, just a fan of marine animals!


And with a face like that, how can you not be? :)

~Patty

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Is anybody here a marine biologist?! The answer at the New England Aquarium is yes ... and no. Like George Costanza, many trainers are not marine biologists. The opposite is usually true too...most marine biologists are not marine mammal trainers. Simply put, marine biologists study ocean organisms. While it may be helpful to have a background in marine biology, it is not required to be a marine mammal trainer.

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