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Apologies for the delay, I was unable to log in during my placement and then I was away on holiday!
Week 1
After completing my volunteer and health and safety paperwork on my first day, I went straight into the daily tasks that must be completed in the aquarium industry. These included temperature testing each morning to check that the life support systems are continuing to work properly, siphoning, which ensures the tank is clean and there is no solid waste on the floor of the tank. This is important as if there is uneaten food or other waste left in the bottom of the tank it can cause water quality issues.
During this week I also shadowed Bryony, my mentor, whilst she carried out the weekly water testing procedure which has to be done to ensure the Ammonia, pH, Dissolved oxygen and Salinity levels are safe for the individual organisms in each tank. Initially I was worried about the chemistry involved within this field of work as I always found it more difficult than Biology, however I found these water tests really interesting as it is all practical work.
Additionally, I was shown how to clear the airlines in the tanks. This has to be done so that there is a sufficient supply of Oxygen going into the tank to maintain life.
I have also been learning the importance of record keeping within the aquarium environment, from daily feed records to temperature and Ammonia level spreadsheets, it is key to have a file which contains all the necessary information about each individual tank.
I have really enjoyed my first week. Initially I was unsure what to expect however everyone at MAWD has made me feel extremely welcome and everything I have done so far has been really interesting!Week 2
Another exciting week at MAWD for me!
This week I became more confident in my ability to carry out the water tests myself and also learned how to do other tests for both Nitrite and Nitrate. This was especially interesting for me as in our Biology A level we studied the Nitrogen cycle in detail so it was great to have the opportunity to put this knowledge into practice.
Another daily task at MAWD is the production and harvesting of Artemia (Brine shrimp), which is a convenient form of live food within aquariums as it hatches within 24 hours. This allows the aquarists to harvest a new batch of Artemia every day. After shadowing the other aquarists to learn the basics, I quickly picked up the routine and by the end of the week it was another of my daily tasks each morning. Once I have harvested the Artemia it has to be counted and then set up in the drip feeders for the particular tanks that need it, and given to the jellyfish which have 3 small feeds every day.
For me, the highlight of this week was being invited into a meeting with the rest of the animal care team and the directors at MAWD with the objective of improving one of the ‘test’ exhibits within the black box development unit and making it more appealing to the public. This was really interesting as it was my first look into the exhibit development side of the work done at MAWD and it really opened my eyes to the amount of time and work that goes into making aquarium exhibits interesting and interactive for the guests. I didn’t expect to be able to be so involved in the development side of the job as a lot of it is ongoing and started before I began my placement however it was excellent that I could provide my opinion and for it to be taken into consideration and possibly have an effect on the way this exhibit is displayed at Sea Life attractions around the world.
Looking forward to what next week has in store for me!Week 3
The highlight of this week for me was being able to work on an incoming delivery. There are so many extra jobs involved in this than I had initially considered, for example to ensure the welfare of the animals which have been delivered the water conditions of the delivery containers have to almost exactly match the conditions within the tank. The most important factor for marine organisms is the salinity, as if the salinity level in the tank is significantly different to the salinity of the water the organism has been transported in, the difference in osmotic potential will cause serious problems for that organism. Because of this, matching the water conditions can take several hours if the delivery water measurement is very different to the tank measurements. Another challenge we faced was moving the fish between tanks to cater for the new arrivals. I discovered how difficult it can be to catch small fish in a large tank using a small net!
After the delivery, the records and spreadsheets needed to be updated so that they contained the new arrivals and had the appropriate entries for feeds and suitable limits of water conditions such as high and low temperature limits so that if something malfunctions it will flag when the readings for that day are being entered.
Working here has highlighted the importance of making notes of all the key points of that day so that everyone in the team has notes to refer to if there is an ongoing problem or if a member of the team is away when a problem arises.
As well as doing more siphoning and water testing, I have started algae cleaning on both acrylic and glass tank surfaces, which is surprisingly therapeutic!!
Another key part of my 3rd week at MAWD was LSS (life support systems) Training with one of the senior aquarists. This was particularly interesting for me as I had never been taught much about this before and it is a crucial part of aquarium maintenance and the survival of organisms within the aquarium environment. We had a mini test at the end to see how much we had learned and there was definitely a significant improvement on my behalf!
Overall I am feeling a lot more knowledgeable and confident that I will have a head start when it comes to studying Marine Zoology at university!Week 4
This week I continued with the daily tasks I have been doing for the duration of my placement, but I added the new tasks of food preparation and daily feeds to the list of tasks I have done whilst I’ve been here. At first the food preparation seemed daunting as I needed to remember how much of each food product was required and then I also needed to remember which animals had which feeds, however beforehand I did some work with the other work experience volunteer where we created a document which contained all the animals we had worked with and which feeds each animal has and this really helped me to remember all the necessary details!
I thoroughly enjoyed the feeds, as it gave me the opportunity to study each animal in more detail and also to communicate with the public more and educate them on the organisms within each exhibit.
Additionally, I did more work in the concept development side of the job this week as I was working on my ideas for the mood board, which is where all the aquarists can suggest tanks and animals which they would like to see brought into MAWD and eventually brought into exhibits in sea life attractions around the world. I enjoyed this and chose the sunflower sea star as my animal because they have always been one of my favourite marine invertebrates.
Once I finished my work for the mood board, myself and Taylor (another work experience volunteer) were tasked with coming up with ideas of things we thought would improve the volunteer handbook we were provided with. This was beneficial at the end of my placement as it allowed me to review all the work I have done over the 4 weeks I have been here and I realised just how much I have learned!
Overall I have had a fantastic experience and would like to thank everyone at MAWD for all their help and support and everyone involved with the Sir Samuel Mico Trust as without them I would never have had this opportunity to begin with.
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