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| Romper-Stomping! |
What an adjustment. I had a day to sorta settle in and then it was off to orientation the next day and then - real job (minus the paycheck) from there on out. I work a 40 hour week and I'm running around all day. My hands are in saltwater more than they are out, and I'm just covered in it by the end of the day. For those who know me, this is fitting. It's a super active job and I am learning so much. I think my biggest hurdle is that I have three different people teaching me the same thing and they all have their certain way of doing it. But really the method doesn't matter so much as that it gets done, so I am sort of making a patchwork of all the ways to do stuff and patching it all together to get my routine down. I've made a few mistakes, but who doesn't? All the aquarists and the supervisor have been really cool about it, and I'm learning from them, which definitely good.
The best way to describe what I do here is to imagine taking care of a home aquarium. You know all of the fish in there, you feed them, clean the tanks, keep tabs on how they're behaving, if they're sick you take care of them, if one fish is bullying another you separate them. Well its like that only way bigger, with a lot more tanks, and a lot more fish and invertebrates. What I don't think I really knew about aquariums before this is that there are a huge amount of critters that aren't on display, we have 7 octopus in total and only 2 of them are on exhibit right now. There are countless tanks behind the scenes and more critters than I know what to do with. We all work as a team to keep the whole place working. There is so much to do every day, and we never get the whole list done in one day, but because the smart people who really run the place have it all figured out it is okay is we dont get it done all at once. Things stay stable, and we work through any issues that come up. These people really know the place, they know the plumbing and the water and the behaviors of all the fish. Their job is a hard one and they do it well. I am learning so much and am slowly gaining trust.
As you can imagine I am already behind on my photo a day attempt but here they are:
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| 19.6.2012 |
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| 20.6.2012 |
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| 21.6.2012 |
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| 22.6.2012 |
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| 23.6.2012 |
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| 24.6.2012 |
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| 25.6.2012 |
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| 26.6.2012 |
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| Extra |
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| Extra |
Well there it is. I'll do some more adventuring and get back to you!
PS. As an update the baby beluga is doing well, it is sort of bottle feeding, but he is a very messy eater. (yep that's Jeff Corwin)
Amy,
ReplyDeleteDale and I were truly impressed with your post. The pictures and made me feel that I can really understand what you are doing. It is so interesting, I feel as if I am walking the beach with you and am fascinated by all the critters in and out of the aquariums.
We loce you. We are fine and looking forward to Ft. Flagler.
Love you, Junior and Papa