welcome back to wine and winds i'm your host kp a marine biologist with over a decade's worth
of experience working with marine mammals now i've received a fair number of comments both
here and over on my twitch channel asking me to explain how in the world you get to have my job
there's no shortage of people who want to be marine biologists
so today let's take a deeper dive into how you can get a job working with marine mammals
step number one hit the like and subscribe button thank you so much
and head down to the descriptions below for ways that you can help support the channel
all jokes aside the first thing you need when building a career working with animals
is a passion for conservation and wildlife because the hard truth is requires a lot of education
for not enough pay for me it began when my parents first took me to the zoo
i remember looking at all of these animals that i couldn't possibly hope to see in real life
except for in a zoo or aquarium and wondering how it is that i could help
this has also been a part of why i've always been such a pro zoo and aquarium advocate
there's no other way that a kid from the suburbs of denver colorado could possibly meet some of
the most spectacular animals that i've seen if not for amazing facilities like the denver zoo
and believe it or not it was the tigers that got me growing up it was my childhood dream
to work with big cats i just didn't know that sea lions were the future
good the next step for me and most marine biologists is getting an education most places
looking for marine mammal trainers will require at least a four year degree so i picked a university
renowned for its animal expertise colorado state university i dual majored in biology
and zoology there's lots of different options depending on which occupation in marine biology
you're looking for but if you want to be a marine mammal trainer i definitely recommend at least
taking a few psychology courses the psychology of the human brain and the animal brain is basically
exactly the same and a lot of the principles that we use like operant conditioning and positive
reinforcement in marine mammal training are things that are taught in basic psychology courses
now of course most places really require that paper degree
but of course we all know the most important thing is hands-on work experience
so while i was a student i volunteered at the rocky mountain raptor program
this is a birds of prey rehabilitation facility i worked with a variety of birds
of prey from owls to eagles to hawks and i volunteered in the education part of this
program which involves outreach at different types of schools or events around colorado
and this is where i really started to develop my passion for outreach education and conservation
after i graduated from colorado state i applied to countless internship opportunities across the u.s
i even took a flyer on an opportunity that i knew would be impossible to get
working with beluga whales and sea otters at a place called the vancouver aquarium
now this was a pretty scary time in my life i'd never lived outside of colorado and here i was
22 moving to a different country to live with four strangers while working as an unpaid intern
and this is something that a lot of people don't think about unpaid internships this is a huge part
of being a marine mammal trainer most people do two three even four of these before finding their
first full-time job i followed that internship up with the second one back stateside at the
point defiance zoo and aquarium in tacoma washington and it was at the end of that
internship where i was finally offered a paid position back at the vancouver aquarium
so on my last day of that internship i packed up my things drove back across the border and the
very next day started my first professional day of work as a marine mammal trainer
and over the next decade working at the vancouver aquarium my love for marine mammals grew from
just sea otters and belugas to a false killer whale named chester and of course everyone knows
my favorite animals of all time two adorable baby walruses
now i don't know where the next 10 years is going to take me but to sum up here's
what i've learned so far things you need to be a marine biologist a passion a go-getter attitude
an adventurous spirit a willingness to step outside of your bubble and take risks
so i hope this answered some of your questions about how it is that you could possibly work with
sea otters or beluga whales if you have any more questions be sure to drop them in the comments
below i read every comment or head over to my twitch channel where you can come and ask me live
that link is in the descriptions below
don't forget to like and subscribe
and we'll see you next time on deeper dive
you