"Do what you love....love what you do!"
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
SCUBA diving
Every week we dive into the various exhibit pools in order to clean them. Algae and other matter can build up down at the bottoms of the pools as well as the gates between pools (called the flumes) and it can take a lot of time, energy and cost to drain the pools and clean them all by hand (Not to mention that we would not be able to transition the dolphins into another area because they are entirely aquatic.). Therefore interns, volunteers and full-time staff are assigned to SCUBA dive different pools throughout the week. During this process, we prepare our equipment, grab a rag and a broom brush, turn on our tanks and jump into the pools. We first will go down to the bottom and sweep all of the debris in a circular pathway around the grates and drains; this helps move everything to the drains so we can get the pool nice and clean! Next we take the rags and wipe down the floors and any surfaces that may have algae growing on them. And that's how you clean a dolphin pool just in case you guys wanted to know! :)
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Dolphin Chat!
So since a lot of you can't be there physically in the dolphin stadium while I have narrated a show, I thought I would bring what I say to you! Check this out then if you are curious as to what I say during our shows! I will hopefully be posting up a video sometime of the actual show so stay tuned!
Dolphin Chat:
"Hello everyone! How are you doing today? Wonderful and welcome to Marsh Dolphin Adventure Stadium here at the Indianapolis Zoo! My name is Jules and I am out here with fellow trainers Mary Anne, Shauna and Kelly. They will be working with all seven of our Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins. We are going to go ahead and introduce those dolphins to you right now. First up, I would like to go ahead and introduce to you our two boys of the group. First off, we have Kimo! Kimo is our most dominant, male dolphin and also our most athletic. Kimo has the lightest colored mouth or rostrum out of all our dolphins which has affectionately earned him the nickname, "Ducky." Next, we have our youngest male dolphin named Jett. Jett, just like his mother Ripley, has really pretty ripple markings on the sides of his body. Jett also has two half-sisters who he like to tease and chase around the pool.
Next, I would like to introduce you to our three older, female dolphins. First, we have Jett's mother Ripley. Ripley was named because of the ripple markings on the sides of her body and on the back of her dorsal fin. She is definitely the princess of the pool! Next we have Nova who is our most dominant female dolphin. She is also our darkest colored dolphin and she has a daughter named Kalei. China has a daughter named Indy and just like her daughter she has a very prominent underbite where the lower part of her jaw sticks out farther than the upper part of her jaw.
And last, but certainly not least, I would like to introduce you to Jett's two half-sisters. The first one is Kalei who is the daughter of Nova. Kalei was our first successful dolphin born here at the Indianapolis zoo and she has a very prominent notch on the front of her dorsal fin which allows us to tell her apart from the other dolphins. And then we have Indy! Indy's mother is China and Indy also has that prominent underbite. However, Indy is much longer and leaner than her mother. Indy was the second successful dolphin born here at the zoo.
Now I have a question to ask all of you! Shout it out if you know the answer! Do you think dolphins are mammals or fish? They are mammals! And there are a few characteristics that make them mammals just like us! The first one is that dolphins breathe air. Instead of breathing air through their mouths, dolphins breather through their nose or blowhole at the top of their heads. The second characteristic is that dolphins give live birth. If you guys can see, dolphins have large belly-buttons in the center of their stomachs where the umbilical chord was attached. And finally, the last characteristic is hair! Now do you guys see any hairy dolphins? No! Dolphins do not have hair but have slippery, smooth skin that allows them to swim fast. However, when dolphins were first born, they had a small moustache of hair on the top of their mouth that fell out after a few days.
As you can see, dolphins are amazing animals and they have other wonderful characteristics that make them special. The first is found in their mouth! Dolphins have 90 to 100 very sharp, cone-shaped teeth that they use to catch fish. However, dolphins do not chew their food but will swallow it whole! Just behind the mouth are the dolphins' beautiful eyes! Dolphins have very good eyesight that allows them to see both in and out of the water. Behind the eyes, about an inch to either side, is a tiny, dimple-shaped hole; these are the dolphins' ears. Dolphins do not have ear flaps because sound travels much faster in the water than in the air. Behind the eyes and ears is a powerhouse of flippers and fins the dolphins use for swimming!
If you guys will take out your right hands and wave to the dolphins, you will see that the dolphins are waving back at you with their pectoral fins. These fins are used for steering and stopping. If you were to look at these fins under an x-ray machine, the bone structure would look like that of a human hand!
On top of the dolphin's back is their large, dorsal fin! This fin is actually made out of cartilage and not of bone. Scientists are not sure what the dorsal fin is used for because some species of dolphins do not actually have a dorsal fin. However, with these dolphins, scientists believe the dorsal fin may be used for body temperature regulation or for stabilization; like the keel on a boat. Just behind the dorsal fin leading up to the back flippers is the tail shank which is a solid wall of muscle. This propels the back flippers, or flukes, in an upward and downward motion allowing dolphins to swim up to 20 miles an hour! So now lets see what happens when we put all of these amazing parts together! (Music segment)
You may have heard the dolphins make lots of strange noises when you first came in. These are the dolphins vocalizations! These sounds are how they communicate with use and with each other. Scientists believe that dolphins can emit up to 30 to 40 vocalizations and we have a few of these on hand cue that we would like to show you today! The first one is one that they make very early in the morning when they are excited to see us; it is called a squawk!...the second one is similar to a dolphin's signature whistle. These signature whistles are each unique and different and help dolphins to recognize each other. We call this sound a bird chirp....Dolphins use a form of biological sonar or echolocation to find food or objects in dark and murky water. How this works is a dolphin emits a series of high-pitched, very fast clicks out in to water from their melon or forehead. These clicks will hit an object, bounce back and be re-absorbed into the dolphin's lower jaw and into their brain; giving them a mental picture; we call this sound a click....and last, dolphins are very good at mimicking things in their environment. This sound is kind of silly, we hope they didn't get it from us, we call it a raspberry!....we hope that with continued research, we someday may better understand dolphin communication.
Now you are probably asking how we train our dolphins to do all of these amazing behaviors! We use what is called operant conditioning. This term may sound complicated but has a very simple meaning. Basically, we reward the dolphins for things that we want them to do and we ignore things we do not want them to do. A really good reward for a dolphin is fish but we also like to reward them with things like games, ice cubes, toys, attention, applause and pats! We train our dolphins to do two different types of behaviors or extensions of what they would normally do in their natural habitat. The first of these behaviors are called health or husbandry behaviors. These behaviors allow us to make sure our dolphins are healthy and physically fit. A few examples of this are opening their mouths to check teeth, showing their back flippers for blood samples and presenting their stomachs for ultrasounds. The second type of behaviors we train our dolphins are show behaviors. These are the behaviors that not only keep them mentally active but physically fit. These are all of the amazing jumps, flips and other high energy behaviors you guys have seen in the show!
We care a lot about our animals here at the zoo. We also really care about their relatives out in the oceans. We hope you do too and there are some simple things you guys can do here and at home in order to help save and conserve them. If you guys have received our brochures here, we please ask that you do not litter but place them in the trash bins. We want to keep the animal's habitats clean and healthy. You can also take part in the Up2Down2 pledge. What you can do is turn your thermostat up two degrees in the summer and down two degrees in the winter. Not only will this help you save energy but it will reduce your utility bill by about 200 dollars a year! Therefore, if we all take small steps, we can make a big difference for these animals out in their natural environment!
On behalf of myself, our trainers and the dolphins, I would like to thank you so much for joining us today! Enjoy the rest of your visit here at the Indianapolis Zoo. Goodbye everyone!"
And that is the dolphin chat!
Dolphin Chat:
"Hello everyone! How are you doing today? Wonderful and welcome to Marsh Dolphin Adventure Stadium here at the Indianapolis Zoo! My name is Jules and I am out here with fellow trainers Mary Anne, Shauna and Kelly. They will be working with all seven of our Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins. We are going to go ahead and introduce those dolphins to you right now. First up, I would like to go ahead and introduce to you our two boys of the group. First off, we have Kimo! Kimo is our most dominant, male dolphin and also our most athletic. Kimo has the lightest colored mouth or rostrum out of all our dolphins which has affectionately earned him the nickname, "Ducky." Next, we have our youngest male dolphin named Jett. Jett, just like his mother Ripley, has really pretty ripple markings on the sides of his body. Jett also has two half-sisters who he like to tease and chase around the pool.
Next, I would like to introduce you to our three older, female dolphins. First, we have Jett's mother Ripley. Ripley was named because of the ripple markings on the sides of her body and on the back of her dorsal fin. She is definitely the princess of the pool! Next we have Nova who is our most dominant female dolphin. She is also our darkest colored dolphin and she has a daughter named Kalei. China has a daughter named Indy and just like her daughter she has a very prominent underbite where the lower part of her jaw sticks out farther than the upper part of her jaw.
And last, but certainly not least, I would like to introduce you to Jett's two half-sisters. The first one is Kalei who is the daughter of Nova. Kalei was our first successful dolphin born here at the Indianapolis zoo and she has a very prominent notch on the front of her dorsal fin which allows us to tell her apart from the other dolphins. And then we have Indy! Indy's mother is China and Indy also has that prominent underbite. However, Indy is much longer and leaner than her mother. Indy was the second successful dolphin born here at the zoo.
Now I have a question to ask all of you! Shout it out if you know the answer! Do you think dolphins are mammals or fish? They are mammals! And there are a few characteristics that make them mammals just like us! The first one is that dolphins breathe air. Instead of breathing air through their mouths, dolphins breather through their nose or blowhole at the top of their heads. The second characteristic is that dolphins give live birth. If you guys can see, dolphins have large belly-buttons in the center of their stomachs where the umbilical chord was attached. And finally, the last characteristic is hair! Now do you guys see any hairy dolphins? No! Dolphins do not have hair but have slippery, smooth skin that allows them to swim fast. However, when dolphins were first born, they had a small moustache of hair on the top of their mouth that fell out after a few days.
As you can see, dolphins are amazing animals and they have other wonderful characteristics that make them special. The first is found in their mouth! Dolphins have 90 to 100 very sharp, cone-shaped teeth that they use to catch fish. However, dolphins do not chew their food but will swallow it whole! Just behind the mouth are the dolphins' beautiful eyes! Dolphins have very good eyesight that allows them to see both in and out of the water. Behind the eyes, about an inch to either side, is a tiny, dimple-shaped hole; these are the dolphins' ears. Dolphins do not have ear flaps because sound travels much faster in the water than in the air. Behind the eyes and ears is a powerhouse of flippers and fins the dolphins use for swimming!
If you guys will take out your right hands and wave to the dolphins, you will see that the dolphins are waving back at you with their pectoral fins. These fins are used for steering and stopping. If you were to look at these fins under an x-ray machine, the bone structure would look like that of a human hand!
On top of the dolphin's back is their large, dorsal fin! This fin is actually made out of cartilage and not of bone. Scientists are not sure what the dorsal fin is used for because some species of dolphins do not actually have a dorsal fin. However, with these dolphins, scientists believe the dorsal fin may be used for body temperature regulation or for stabilization; like the keel on a boat. Just behind the dorsal fin leading up to the back flippers is the tail shank which is a solid wall of muscle. This propels the back flippers, or flukes, in an upward and downward motion allowing dolphins to swim up to 20 miles an hour! So now lets see what happens when we put all of these amazing parts together! (Music segment)
You may have heard the dolphins make lots of strange noises when you first came in. These are the dolphins vocalizations! These sounds are how they communicate with use and with each other. Scientists believe that dolphins can emit up to 30 to 40 vocalizations and we have a few of these on hand cue that we would like to show you today! The first one is one that they make very early in the morning when they are excited to see us; it is called a squawk!...the second one is similar to a dolphin's signature whistle. These signature whistles are each unique and different and help dolphins to recognize each other. We call this sound a bird chirp....Dolphins use a form of biological sonar or echolocation to find food or objects in dark and murky water. How this works is a dolphin emits a series of high-pitched, very fast clicks out in to water from their melon or forehead. These clicks will hit an object, bounce back and be re-absorbed into the dolphin's lower jaw and into their brain; giving them a mental picture; we call this sound a click....and last, dolphins are very good at mimicking things in their environment. This sound is kind of silly, we hope they didn't get it from us, we call it a raspberry!....we hope that with continued research, we someday may better understand dolphin communication.
Now you are probably asking how we train our dolphins to do all of these amazing behaviors! We use what is called operant conditioning. This term may sound complicated but has a very simple meaning. Basically, we reward the dolphins for things that we want them to do and we ignore things we do not want them to do. A really good reward for a dolphin is fish but we also like to reward them with things like games, ice cubes, toys, attention, applause and pats! We train our dolphins to do two different types of behaviors or extensions of what they would normally do in their natural habitat. The first of these behaviors are called health or husbandry behaviors. These behaviors allow us to make sure our dolphins are healthy and physically fit. A few examples of this are opening their mouths to check teeth, showing their back flippers for blood samples and presenting their stomachs for ultrasounds. The second type of behaviors we train our dolphins are show behaviors. These are the behaviors that not only keep them mentally active but physically fit. These are all of the amazing jumps, flips and other high energy behaviors you guys have seen in the show!
We care a lot about our animals here at the zoo. We also really care about their relatives out in the oceans. We hope you do too and there are some simple things you guys can do here and at home in order to help save and conserve them. If you guys have received our brochures here, we please ask that you do not litter but place them in the trash bins. We want to keep the animal's habitats clean and healthy. You can also take part in the Up2Down2 pledge. What you can do is turn your thermostat up two degrees in the summer and down two degrees in the winter. Not only will this help you save energy but it will reduce your utility bill by about 200 dollars a year! Therefore, if we all take small steps, we can make a big difference for these animals out in their natural environment!
On behalf of myself, our trainers and the dolphins, I would like to thank you so much for joining us today! Enjoy the rest of your visit here at the Indianapolis Zoo. Goodbye everyone!"
And that is the dolphin chat!
A day in the life of a marine mammal intern with the dolphins...
Hey everyone!
Its been a while since my last blog post! Things have been so busy here at the zoo but I'm loving every minute of it! Since it's only two days till Halloween, we have been having the Indianapolis Zoo ZooBoo celebration every weekend. This is a time where kids get to come dressed up in their halloween costumes to the zoo, play games, see the animals, get lots of amazing candy and see the Halloween decorations we have all worked so hard to put up! The last day for this fun time will be on saturday...not too much longer now!
Also in honor of Halloween, we have been having special halloween dolphin shows where we play Halloween-themed music and the trainers put the dolphin's fish in plastic, pumpkin buckets and guests can come to the dolphin shows dressed up in their costumes too! In addition, Kenzi, my mentor marine mammal trainer, trained Kalei and Indy to perform what is called the "fang" behavior where she puts a fish into the dolphin's mouth, the dolphin holds the fish and does not attempt to eat it. This behavior takes a lot of patience and repetition the but the end result is pretty amazing to see!
So.....each day has been somewhat different and there is always something new to see or learn the more I have done this internship. However, below is a basic "day" in the life of a marine mammal intern at the Indianapolis zoo and some of the things that I do on a daily basis:
1. 7:45 am-arrive at the zoo and clock in/get my keys at the Administration building and walk over to the dolphin building
2. 8-8:30 am-put on my rubber boots and go and collect water samples from tanks for each of the pools in the marine mammal areas if I get assigned to do this. The water samples are tested for chlorine levels in the pools as well as pH levels, etc. These samples are collected either right from the pools when the animals are off exhibit (with the dolphin pool I collect it when the dolphins are away in the other pools) or from tanks where the water is being filtered and cleaned. The samples are then taken to the water quality specialist in the Oceans building. On mondays, choliform samples are taken to test additionally for chlorine levels
3. 8:30-10 am-participate in a morning feed session and feed one of the dolphins at trainer's discretion, prepare dolphin diets, laundry, scrub algae off ledges of dolphin pools, clean area where wetsuits are kept or perform other chores that need to get done according to day of the week or whatever trainer's need to get done
4. 10-10:45 am-open up doors for first dolphin show, help guests find seating, make sure guests remain seated during shows, lock doors after show, clean theater, narrate dolphin shows depending on day of the week and show time, clean theater stands
5. 11-12 pm-lunch! :)
6. 12-2 pm-on weekends, help out in theater during 12:30 dolphin show, open and close gates during feedings, complete laundry and other chores that need to be done, pick out overnight toys/enrichment items for dolphins, participate in play sessions with dolphins with trainers
7. 2-2:45 pm-collect afternoon water samples if assigned, open up theater for 2:30 show (weekends and weekdays), narrate shows if assigned, assist guests, open and lock theater doors
8. 3-5 pm-clean theater after 2:30 pm show, participate in feed and play sessions with dolphins and trainers, help out and narrate 4:30 pm show on weekends if assigned, complete assigned chores if still not done, put overnight toys in dolphin pools, check gates, check locks, clean kitchen, disinfect stainless-steel buckets for next day, write in journal
9. 5-5:15 pm-check out at Administration building and turn in keys, leave for home
Again, this is a very basic day in the life of what I have been doing at the zoo. Some days I get assigned to work outside with the walruses, seals and sealions. I will be posting up a blog of that soon since I will be working with sealions and seals this coming weekend!
Some days we have other things that go on that include: dolphin or other marine mammal ultrasounds, the dolphins get weighed in the morning every monday, the animals receive a visual physical exam by the veterinarians, volunteers will make diets or perform other extra projects and I will be assigned to do other things, I am assigned to dive into the pools and clean the pool areas, special meetings, etc. The one thing I have loved about this internship has been the variety of each day yet there is a routine too!
****Special note: I want to take this moment to remember Nereus, the male walrus at the zoo. He passed away last week thursday due to a severe illness and would not wake up from the anasthetic when they were doing a physical exam on him. He was much loved and will be missed a lot! We love you Nereus!
Its been a while since my last blog post! Things have been so busy here at the zoo but I'm loving every minute of it! Since it's only two days till Halloween, we have been having the Indianapolis Zoo ZooBoo celebration every weekend. This is a time where kids get to come dressed up in their halloween costumes to the zoo, play games, see the animals, get lots of amazing candy and see the Halloween decorations we have all worked so hard to put up! The last day for this fun time will be on saturday...not too much longer now!
Also in honor of Halloween, we have been having special halloween dolphin shows where we play Halloween-themed music and the trainers put the dolphin's fish in plastic, pumpkin buckets and guests can come to the dolphin shows dressed up in their costumes too! In addition, Kenzi, my mentor marine mammal trainer, trained Kalei and Indy to perform what is called the "fang" behavior where she puts a fish into the dolphin's mouth, the dolphin holds the fish and does not attempt to eat it. This behavior takes a lot of patience and repetition the but the end result is pretty amazing to see!
So.....each day has been somewhat different and there is always something new to see or learn the more I have done this internship. However, below is a basic "day" in the life of a marine mammal intern at the Indianapolis zoo and some of the things that I do on a daily basis:
1. 7:45 am-arrive at the zoo and clock in/get my keys at the Administration building and walk over to the dolphin building
2. 8-8:30 am-put on my rubber boots and go and collect water samples from tanks for each of the pools in the marine mammal areas if I get assigned to do this. The water samples are tested for chlorine levels in the pools as well as pH levels, etc. These samples are collected either right from the pools when the animals are off exhibit (with the dolphin pool I collect it when the dolphins are away in the other pools) or from tanks where the water is being filtered and cleaned. The samples are then taken to the water quality specialist in the Oceans building. On mondays, choliform samples are taken to test additionally for chlorine levels
3. 8:30-10 am-participate in a morning feed session and feed one of the dolphins at trainer's discretion, prepare dolphin diets, laundry, scrub algae off ledges of dolphin pools, clean area where wetsuits are kept or perform other chores that need to get done according to day of the week or whatever trainer's need to get done
4. 10-10:45 am-open up doors for first dolphin show, help guests find seating, make sure guests remain seated during shows, lock doors after show, clean theater, narrate dolphin shows depending on day of the week and show time, clean theater stands
5. 11-12 pm-lunch! :)
6. 12-2 pm-on weekends, help out in theater during 12:30 dolphin show, open and close gates during feedings, complete laundry and other chores that need to be done, pick out overnight toys/enrichment items for dolphins, participate in play sessions with dolphins with trainers
7. 2-2:45 pm-collect afternoon water samples if assigned, open up theater for 2:30 show (weekends and weekdays), narrate shows if assigned, assist guests, open and lock theater doors
8. 3-5 pm-clean theater after 2:30 pm show, participate in feed and play sessions with dolphins and trainers, help out and narrate 4:30 pm show on weekends if assigned, complete assigned chores if still not done, put overnight toys in dolphin pools, check gates, check locks, clean kitchen, disinfect stainless-steel buckets for next day, write in journal
9. 5-5:15 pm-check out at Administration building and turn in keys, leave for home
Again, this is a very basic day in the life of what I have been doing at the zoo. Some days I get assigned to work outside with the walruses, seals and sealions. I will be posting up a blog of that soon since I will be working with sealions and seals this coming weekend!
Some days we have other things that go on that include: dolphin or other marine mammal ultrasounds, the dolphins get weighed in the morning every monday, the animals receive a visual physical exam by the veterinarians, volunteers will make diets or perform other extra projects and I will be assigned to do other things, I am assigned to dive into the pools and clean the pool areas, special meetings, etc. The one thing I have loved about this internship has been the variety of each day yet there is a routine too!
****Special note: I want to take this moment to remember Nereus, the male walrus at the zoo. He passed away last week thursday due to a severe illness and would not wake up from the anasthetic when they were doing a physical exam on him. He was much loved and will be missed a lot! We love you Nereus!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
A school of Fish
One task I had to learn right from the get-go for my internship was learning how to prepare diets for the dolphins and other marine mammals (walruses, a polar bear, seals and sealions). And what does this involve?!...sorting out lots and lots and lots of fish!
This morning my coach marine mammal trainer, Kenzie, and I had to arrive at the zoo at 7 am because we were on what is called "Fish duty" (Each member of the marine mammal staff gets assigned a role for each day that involves completing a set amount of tasks that need to get done to ensure the facilities are clean, the animals are taken care of, fed and are happy and healthy!) Being on fish duty involves arriving super early (I rode in the dark this morning!) and sorting four different kinds of fish that include two kinds of herring (lean and fat), capelin and sardines. We pulled large, cardboard boxes of the fish from the freezer right outside the dolphin stadium, pulling the fish from the boxes in the kitchen (think of a large iceberg consisting primarily of fish or "fishberg", putting them in large, stainless-steel sinks under running water to thaw them, pulling the fish apart so they don't thaw together and then sorting them. We always check for fish that may have missing anatomical parts (an eye, a fin, etc.), cuts, abrasions or tears in their skin. Dolphins, seals and sealions are sensitive to bad fish and will not eat them if we give them any. Fish are also easy carriers for bacteria which could make the animals sick. The one exception is Tundra the polar bear....apparently she can handle eating fish that are not necessarily top cuisine! :)
After we have sorted out all the fish, we then divide them by kind into different buckets, put a layer of plastic and ice on top to keep them cold and then into the various freezers they go! Some buckets of fish will go out to the walrus and seal facility kitchens while others will stay in the dolphin kitchen.
Later this same morning, I was asked to make most of the dolphin diets for the various feeding sessions the trainers have with the animals. The dolphins can eat up to 20 to 25 pounds of fish a day!!! However, it would not be good to feed them all of that fish at once. Therefore, the trainers have several (as many as six to seven!) feeding sessions a day in order that the dolphins get the proper amount of fish in their diet but this also serves to be a great reward when they successfully complete "tricks" or behaviors (more on training later!!!)
So how do I make these diets? Each dolphin has two stainless-steel buckets that are color coded according to each, individual dolphin:
China-white
Ripley-red
Kimo-orange
Jett-red and yellow
Indy-yellow and white
Nova-blue
Kalei-blue and yellow
(All of the younger dolphins have two colors with one color being the color of their mother and the other color being yellow. For example, since China is Indy's mother, she would have the color white with her yellow!)
I take each bucket and weigh out different kinds of fish each dolphin gets for each feed according to a chart we have in the dolphin kitchen. For example, during the 8:30 am feeding session, Jett may need 2 pounds of capelin as well as 1 pound of lean herring. I would first weigh out the 2 pounds of capelin, pour it into the bucket, and then weigh out and add the 1 pound of lean herring. So if you can imagine each dolphin has five feeding sessions in one day and needs up to twenty pounds of fish or more each day...that's a loooott of fish! In between sessions, we rinse and wash out the buckets so they can be used multiple times!
This part of my day takes a lot of work and requires patience....but I'll tell you one thing....it sure is cool being in the kitchen early in the morning when it is super quiet, looking out the windows that face east and watching the sunrise!
This morning my coach marine mammal trainer, Kenzie, and I had to arrive at the zoo at 7 am because we were on what is called "Fish duty" (Each member of the marine mammal staff gets assigned a role for each day that involves completing a set amount of tasks that need to get done to ensure the facilities are clean, the animals are taken care of, fed and are happy and healthy!) Being on fish duty involves arriving super early (I rode in the dark this morning!) and sorting four different kinds of fish that include two kinds of herring (lean and fat), capelin and sardines. We pulled large, cardboard boxes of the fish from the freezer right outside the dolphin stadium, pulling the fish from the boxes in the kitchen (think of a large iceberg consisting primarily of fish or "fishberg", putting them in large, stainless-steel sinks under running water to thaw them, pulling the fish apart so they don't thaw together and then sorting them. We always check for fish that may have missing anatomical parts (an eye, a fin, etc.), cuts, abrasions or tears in their skin. Dolphins, seals and sealions are sensitive to bad fish and will not eat them if we give them any. Fish are also easy carriers for bacteria which could make the animals sick. The one exception is Tundra the polar bear....apparently she can handle eating fish that are not necessarily top cuisine! :)
After we have sorted out all the fish, we then divide them by kind into different buckets, put a layer of plastic and ice on top to keep them cold and then into the various freezers they go! Some buckets of fish will go out to the walrus and seal facility kitchens while others will stay in the dolphin kitchen.
Later this same morning, I was asked to make most of the dolphin diets for the various feeding sessions the trainers have with the animals. The dolphins can eat up to 20 to 25 pounds of fish a day!!! However, it would not be good to feed them all of that fish at once. Therefore, the trainers have several (as many as six to seven!) feeding sessions a day in order that the dolphins get the proper amount of fish in their diet but this also serves to be a great reward when they successfully complete "tricks" or behaviors (more on training later!!!)
So how do I make these diets? Each dolphin has two stainless-steel buckets that are color coded according to each, individual dolphin:
China-white
Ripley-red
Kimo-orange
Jett-red and yellow
Indy-yellow and white
Nova-blue
Kalei-blue and yellow
(All of the younger dolphins have two colors with one color being the color of their mother and the other color being yellow. For example, since China is Indy's mother, she would have the color white with her yellow!)
I take each bucket and weigh out different kinds of fish each dolphin gets for each feed according to a chart we have in the dolphin kitchen. For example, during the 8:30 am feeding session, Jett may need 2 pounds of capelin as well as 1 pound of lean herring. I would first weigh out the 2 pounds of capelin, pour it into the bucket, and then weigh out and add the 1 pound of lean herring. So if you can imagine each dolphin has five feeding sessions in one day and needs up to twenty pounds of fish or more each day...that's a loooott of fish! In between sessions, we rinse and wash out the buckets so they can be used multiple times!
This part of my day takes a lot of work and requires patience....but I'll tell you one thing....it sure is cool being in the kitchen early in the morning when it is super quiet, looking out the windows that face east and watching the sunrise!
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Dolphins...Dolphins...Dolphins!!!
Hey everyone!
So sorry it has been awhile since my last blog entry! This past week has been such a whirlwind since I moved down to Indianapolis (aka Indy) and started the internship. I officially moved down here on Sunday, September 12th into the house that I live in in the Irvington neighborhood (about seven miles away from downtown) and I started on monday! :)
Since there has already been so much that I have learned within four days' time, I thought I would write different posts involving various aspects of the internship just so that everyone would have a better idea of what it is like in the day of a marine mammal trainer!
Therefore...I will start with the actual animals themselves and the different ones I am starting to work with personally.
There are seven Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins housed at the Indianapolis Zoo; five females and two males. The names of the females are Ripley, Indy, China, Nova and Kahlei. The names of the males are Kimo and Jett. The reason why they are called bottlenose dolphins is because their mouth and nose (or the rostrum) is shaped like a bottle! :)
Kimo is the dominant male in the pod (or group) and Nova is the dominant female. This means that these two dolphins, in a sense, rule the roost...or pool I should say!
China, Ripley, Nova and Kimo are the oldest dolphins in the pod and their ages range from the early to mid twenties (dolphins can live to be up to twenty five to thirty years of age!) while Kahlei, Indy and Jett are the youngest dolphins in the pod. Jett's mother is Ripley and Indy's mother is China. So far, two of my favorite dolphins have been Kahlei and Indy. Indy is lighter in color than most of the other dolphins and has a characteristic "underbite" of her nose and mouth which she inherited from her mother (China has the same thing on her nose and mouth or rostrum too!) Kahlei, which means "beloved" in Hawaiian is more large and robust in size. It is easy to tell her apart from the other dolphins due to a "notch" that she has on the front of her dorsal, or top, fin when she swims around in the pool. Both of these beautiful girls are very playful. Whenever we come in in the morning for the first feed of the day, they always pop their heads up on the side of the pool to see what we are doing. Kahlei is always hungry for attention, loves to play and show off for her trainers! Indy is also super curious and never misses a chance to see what's going on!
The more time I spend with these amazing animals, the more I appreciate their beauty, personality, power, strength, stamina and grace!
So sorry it has been awhile since my last blog entry! This past week has been such a whirlwind since I moved down to Indianapolis (aka Indy) and started the internship. I officially moved down here on Sunday, September 12th into the house that I live in in the Irvington neighborhood (about seven miles away from downtown) and I started on monday! :)
Since there has already been so much that I have learned within four days' time, I thought I would write different posts involving various aspects of the internship just so that everyone would have a better idea of what it is like in the day of a marine mammal trainer!
Therefore...I will start with the actual animals themselves and the different ones I am starting to work with personally.
There are seven Atlantic Bottlenose dolphins housed at the Indianapolis Zoo; five females and two males. The names of the females are Ripley, Indy, China, Nova and Kahlei. The names of the males are Kimo and Jett. The reason why they are called bottlenose dolphins is because their mouth and nose (or the rostrum) is shaped like a bottle! :)
Kimo is the dominant male in the pod (or group) and Nova is the dominant female. This means that these two dolphins, in a sense, rule the roost...or pool I should say!
China, Ripley, Nova and Kimo are the oldest dolphins in the pod and their ages range from the early to mid twenties (dolphins can live to be up to twenty five to thirty years of age!) while Kahlei, Indy and Jett are the youngest dolphins in the pod. Jett's mother is Ripley and Indy's mother is China. So far, two of my favorite dolphins have been Kahlei and Indy. Indy is lighter in color than most of the other dolphins and has a characteristic "underbite" of her nose and mouth which she inherited from her mother (China has the same thing on her nose and mouth or rostrum too!) Kahlei, which means "beloved" in Hawaiian is more large and robust in size. It is easy to tell her apart from the other dolphins due to a "notch" that she has on the front of her dorsal, or top, fin when she swims around in the pool. Both of these beautiful girls are very playful. Whenever we come in in the morning for the first feed of the day, they always pop their heads up on the side of the pool to see what we are doing. Kahlei is always hungry for attention, loves to play and show off for her trainers! Indy is also super curious and never misses a chance to see what's going on!
The more time I spend with these amazing animals, the more I appreciate their beauty, personality, power, strength, stamina and grace!
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