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I have just finished my four week scholarship at the Oceanarium in Bournemouth. I spent my first day shadowing the welcome hosts, listening to their talks and learning about the animals that are cared for by the Oceanarium. Throughout my first week, I got the opportunity to feed the stingrays, penguins, sharks, green sea turtles, the zebra shark and the guitarfish. However I also helped in quarantine, which is where new animals are checked for diseases and sick fish are cared for. This mostly involved water changing and cleaning tanks. The Oceanarium also has a collection of reptiles, which I helped feed, clean and health check. As a volunteer I had to do the small feeds (feeding the smaller fish with flake, pellets and shrimp) and temperatures every morning. A big part of my job was also servicing tanks. This involved removing algae from the acrylics, walls and theming, and also gravel syphoning to remove old bits of food and dirt that had settled at the bottom of the tank. During my next three weeks I continued to clean tanks and care for the animals. As the days went on I became more confident in my ability to complete my jobs and so did my supervisors who often left me alone to finish my tasks.
I really enjoyed my time at the Oceanarium and I was shocked at how quickly I became involved in daily tasks. Before I started I expected to be shadowing people for the first week, however from my second day I started helping with cleaning and feeding. My scholarship has helped me become more confident about my future as I now have evidence that shows I am capable at succeeding in this area and I also have very valuable experience in the field.Charlotte
Great to hear about your time at the Oceanarium, sounds like an interesting 4 weeks.
I hope you have a great summer, and we look forward to hearing more about your placement at the December presentation evening.
Gary Hepburn
Chairman
Sir Samuel Mico Charities
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