My experiences as a volunteer for the New York Aquarium
My first day as a volunteer for the New York Aquarium was amazing. I got a quick little tour of the aquarium as we made our way to where everything behind the scenes takes place. The volunteer supervisor told the numbers for each tank and what kind of animals were in them, of course not expecting me to remember everything on the first day. This ironically was my first time at this aquarium so I was mesmerized on both ends. What was surreal however, was walking above the tanks behind the scenes. It was like our own little version of “the drop-off” in Finding Nemo. One minute your walking on a regular concrete floor and the next, if you’re not careful, you’re part of the exhibit. There’s one room in particular that provides access to a large tank connected to the quarantine pool that I love just walking around an watching the sharks and other fish just swim around in the missing floor going about their day in complete silence as the blue fluorescent lighting illuminates their water.
After the tour and getting dressed in our uniforms we went over things like house rules and basic information. Then we officially started the day by going over how to do the daily activities expected of me. For the morning those include things like preparing some of the food for the animals, replenishing the footbaths they use in order to limit transfer of bacteria from different sites, and cleaning different areas. I will say one of the things that kept surprising me, but makes complete sense, is that EVERYTHING is allowed to get wet, in fact, it’s pretty much expected. There are several drains on all of the floors in every room. I seriously wish I could hose down my kitchen the way they do. Once daily tasks are completed as a volunteer I’m free to help out or watch whatever else may be going on.
Luckily for me, perhaps not so much for the shark, there was a follow up check up scheduled for one of the sandbar sharks named Angus. He spent the night in the quarantine pool so that he would be ready for his appointment in the morning. I got to observe how the keepers get in the water to guide the shark to what is basically his exam table but is more like a large sling. There are two other keepers that handle the sling and make sure position is good, and provides filtration through the gills as added support since it’s often best to do any procedures while the animal is on their back. This creates an effect called tonic immobility. Meanwhile, the vet team which was about a team of 4-5 people performed things like ultrasounds and blood draws. There’s also usually another person, whose role I may get to fill in the future, that handles moving the floor of the pool up and down and adjusts the position of the sling with a crane and pulley-like system.
In the afternoon I also had the chance to observe several different feedings. Because of the wide variety of species at the aquarium there are some animals that get feed 2-3 times a day and some that only get fed about once a week. Some of the feedings I saw that first day were those of the southern stingrays, smooth hounds, bamboo sharks, and leopard sharks. It was so fun and interesting to see different behaviors and personalities. For instance, once of the leopard sharks named Dawn hated what was on the menu for the day and didn’t even bother coming to lunch, meanwhile, the smooth hounds were literally jumping for joy at their food. Then came the afternoon chores which for the most part involved washing and cleaning things. I think the highlight of the chores however, was scrubbing the inside of one of the holding pools. There was a sturgeon in there so I was scrubbing with a very, very long broom and stopping ever so often as the sturgeon went about his merry way round and round. I have no idea why, but there was something therapeutic about scrubbing that pool.
Before I knew it, the day was over! I only volunteer about once a week so it was sad to think it would be such a long time until I got to do everything all over again. On another note, I was TIRED! I took a long train ride home and by that time I had only three things on my mind. Dinner, story time, and bedtime!
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