Blog 4: Interview Preparation

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  Why?
I plan to interview Andres, a staff member at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium. I want to interview him because he's been working at the Aquatic Nursery for many years and is an expert raising fish and other marine life from birth. He's the guy you want to go to if you need to know about marine life in captivity. While I've been working at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium's nursery, I've learned a lot from him, he's probably been the most helpful.
 
2.  You have to ask 5 questions.  What additional questions do you plan to ask?  Ask open-ended questions.  What are open-ended questions?  
Why did you go into this career? Like, what about it caught your interrest?
Where else have you worked and how have the experiences there helped prepare you for your job now?
What, in your opinion, is the best benefit of raising fish in captivity?
Why is it so difficult to breed White Abalone?
What do you guys do with excess fish? Ex. Release them into the wild, give them to other aquariums, etc....

Lobster Eggs

You can't see it very well but the little orange spots at the bottom of the jar are California Spiny Lobster eggs. These are from the smaller one who's due to hatch in about three weeks.

These are the Lobster Eggs under the microscope, the little black dots are their eyes.

8/25/13

Today I got to feed the Moon and Sea Nettle jellies by myself, along with the Kelp Bass, Red Abalone, Pipefish and Wolf eels. After the standard a.m. feedings, cleaning the tanks and being shown where a few things were we got to take egg samples from the California Spiny Lobsters. Both females had eggs and we needed to take samples of the eggs so that we could see how far along in development they were. So while another volunteer held down the lobsters, I removed a small clump of eggs from each and put them into separate jars. When we looked under the microscope, the larger female's eggs would need quite a bit more time, while the smaller lobster's eggs would hatch within three weeks. That was really cool. We also got a new baby sheepshead today and I learned that all sheepshead are born females but when they mature, the most dominant one will turn into the male. In other news Andres decided that we'd feed the Sea Nettles something a bit different than before. So I was sent to the Jelly Lab and brought back the biggest Moon Jelly I could find, chopped it up, and fed it to them. I will admit I felt really bad for it because it was alive and everything when he had me chop it up..... but circle of life I suppose. On a brighter note, I've found that I am quite fond of the Red and White Abalones they have. I get to feed the red Abalone and find them absolutely adorable and quite pleasant. And as for the White Abalone, I learned a lot about their plight and am very interested to learn more. For example, White Abalone are considered to be reproductively extinct in the wild because in order to spawn successfully, they need to live within 10 feet of each other. However, nowadays White Abalone are spread out over one hundred feet of each other, with only one or two living in that space. I don't have a mentor yet but I have a few people whom I'm thinking of, and I have two interviewees do far.

Topic Choice and Semester 1 ESLR Goals

Topic: Marine Life Captivity

To become an effective learner, I plan on using an 'assignment book', make sure to check my supplies every night and to not only look over my notes but to actually study them too.

To become an effective communicator, I will make sure to listen to what others have to say, I will be respectful of them and there opinions,

In order to become an effective user in technology by seeking help when I need it for resources, to help others when I can and to incorporate technology not only into my research but also my presentations.

I will become an effective IPoly citizen I will make sure to leave home early so that I can get to school every day on time. I will check to make sure I've done and packed all my homework every morning and be respectful to my peers and staff.

8/18/13

Today was the first time I officially worked at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium as a member. First, they had me take a 'scavenger hunt' so that I would get to know my environment and learn where everything was located. They taught me how to prepare the food for the fish and the correct ways to feed them. I learned about the water systems, which was important because I needed to know so I wasn't giving fish who normally lived in 80 degree water 52 degree water or vise-versa. They gave me a tour of the aquarium, showing me where the spare tanks were, gravel, where to dump the bio waste, where the back fish were and the extra food freezers. I learned how to clean the tanks and displays, how to make the correct foods for the larvae fish and how to deal with the public. The first thing they had me do actually was feed the Jellyfish, I fed both Moon jelly and Sea Nettles. I learned that Moon jellies are too weak to sting us but Sea Nettles certainly aren't. One of the other volunteers I worked with has been working there for a long time and had been stung so many times that he had actually become used to the stings and could no longer feel them. I also learned that the reason they kept so many Leopard sharks out back was because they mated well and produced a lot of eggs.

Mentorship

1. (Know) Using google doc (drive) link a log of specific hours and a description of your duties: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AptSPjJUudM9dEhGa1d5OThoa2R6VTNVQ2lYUTlPeEE#gid=0

2.  Contact Info (Until further notice)
Where: The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium
 Contact Name: Dr. Kiersten Darrow
Contact Number: (310)548-2649

3. Questions that were raised because of the 10 hours of experience:    

Why is it important to breed sharks in captivity? What are the advantages and drawbacks of breeding endangered animals in captivity? How does water temperatures affect the fish? Can any aquarium have endangered fish or is there a permit required? Are there any special types of tanks for young marine animals? What sorts of conditions are required to raise sharks to full grown size from eggs? How long does it take to safely acclimate a newly caught fish from the wild to captivity?

4. The most important thing I gained:
Take your time with what you're doing and if you aren't sure about something, always ask someone for help! This is extremely important because we are working with live animals and if someone doesn't know what they're doing they could really harm or even kill them.

5. This experience helped me choose my topic because not only did I enjoy it, but found it extremely interesting too. I've always liked things that had to do with the ocean and working at the aquarium really struck new interests. I learned a lot of really neat things that i had never even considered before.