For an adventure closer to home, I got to spend time at the New England Aquarium! For my first day, I met up with Dan Dolan at the Aquarium’s Husbandry Facility! Dan has been a volunteer diver for the aquarium for many years, and for the past few years has been working at their offsite facility. For the first half of my day, I got to spend some an amazing time with the aquarium’s Sea Turtle Rescue and Rehab Facility! I met some of the amazing staff and volunteers who make the entire facility run, and got to learn all about their day to day work. The Rescue and Rehab program has been ongoing for over 25 years, working to rehabilitate Sea Turtles that become cold-stunned when they are caught in Cape Cod bay, as well as helping turtles with a number of other injuries.
It was interesting to see all of the observation and care that goes into each turtles rehabilitation, with the staff and volunteers noting everything from their swimming habits to dietary changes, and more; especially since there were two different species at the facility! I was also lucky enough to get to help feed the sea turtles. Each of them ate a mixture of food and we made a sure every turtle ate its share for the day. Once the turtles were fed and happy, it was time for their exams! Some of the turtles had general checks, while a few were getting prepared to be released soon. Thanks to some guidance from the aquariums vet staff, I got to help hold the turtles while they were being inspected! It was super interesting to see how some of the procedures went, especially the process of tagging the turtles!
I finished up with the team for the day, and then I got to spend some time with the husbandry division! Dan gave me a quick tour of the facilities, and we even got to watch some target feeding training for animals which could be soon released into the Aquarium’s exhibit! After watching such a cool demonstration, Dan and I spent some time cleaning some of the holding tanks in the facility. The biggest problem for these tanks is the growth of algae while they sit in the bright light, so Dan works hard to make sure they are scrubbed clean and ready for any animals that may need to find a home in them. Cleaning the tanks was really satisfying, and super fun when we had some of their newer animals swimming around and investigating us while we cleaned!
Once our day at the facility was done, Dan and his wife were kind enough to take me out to dinner with them. I had some amazing food at a local restaurant in Quincy, and was able to meet a ton of their friends at a really cool beachside venue where we listened to one of their friends play in a band. In all my first day with the New England Aquarium was super interesting, and I cannot wait to see what the next few days have in store.