BigBrownEyes Brand

My experiences as a New York Aquarium Volunteer

We’re back! Fourth volunteer day and a brand new month full of what I know will be lots more excitement and learning. I actually would say learning was the theme of this day. This time, after food prep the morning, came an all-staff meeting. I was allowed to attend just in case there were any interesting tidbits I could learn from and I would say there were definitely a few things I took away from the meeting. This meeting was about beginning preparation for a visit from the Association of Zoos and Aquariums or AZA for short. First let me begin by saying that the New York Aquarium and four of the zoos here in the city are ran by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). WCS is one of the oldest zoo/conservation societies in the US if not the world. It was started back in the 1890’s and has quite an interesting history. Of course, some good and some bad. Look up William Temple Hornaday, Madison Grant, and Henry Fairfield Osborn, Sr.  for more information about the bad. As for the good, WCS is doing some amazing work both locally and globally and I’m pretty much falling in love with them. However, I think it’s important for someone wanting to get involved with an organization or to become a change agent to always have a mindset that there is always more work and progress to be made, that of which you hope to be a part of.

Now, one project in particular that was mentioned during the meeting that WCS and the aquarium are currently operating is the work they are doing here with the Hudson Canyon. The Hudson Canyon is both an exhibit within the aquarium and an actual submarine canyon in the Hudson River (the river in between NY and NJ). The real Hudson Canyon is home to whales, dolphins, sharks, sea turtles, and corals. To me that’s the beauty of conservation and aquarium/zoo education. How many of you reading would have even known some, if not all, of those creatures could be found just south of the Statue of Liberty? New York may be the “concrete jungle”, but it’s also home to an abundance of marine life. WCS along with NOAA are working towards designating the canyon as a marine sanctuary and protected space. You can read more about it here and here. I’ve also been learning a little bit more about the AZA. All of WCS’s facilities are accredited by the AZA. Accreditation is optional, but it’s a good sign when a zoo or aquarium is accredited by an organization (the alternate accrediting organization in the US is the ZAA). It essentially means they are working in collaboration and agreement with others on best practices for things like conservation and re-population. We’ll learn more along the way!

After the meeting I learned how to make something called carnivore gel, or carni gel for short. This is a supplement we give the animals in addition to their regular meals to ensure nutritional support. A lot of people hate the way it smells. I admit it can be a little rough when you’re preparing it, but once it cools and sets it has the same consistency and look of brownies (just a lighter shade) and I promise you sometimes it smells just like them too. I’m the only one that believes this though! Following this I got another chance to see the wobbegong feeding, some of those sharks are definitely characters too! I also came in on the tail end of the feedings that go on in the holding pools.

The end of the day ended with more amazing learning and information! Before we cleaned up for the day I got to listen in on a presentation given to one of the interns, Animal Training 101. It was a nice 30 min presentation that I feel did a great job of introducing you to the basics but inviting you in to want to dig in deeper. I even left with some mental notes about how to manage my cats a little better. To summarize very briefly because I really want to share but also have limited knowledge; animal training is essential for many reasons, but I would say two main ones are for enrichment and to minimize stress during necessary handling. Keepers train animals not for entertainment, though it can be fascinating to watch, but for reasons such as knowing when and where to come get their food in the exhibit, to mimic behavior that is natural in the wild, or to be relaxed with body parts that need to be examined. I could probably do a whole blog post on animal behavior and training just by itself, and in the future maybe I will. For now, we wait for next time!