When Noe and I came to Connecticut on our first house hunting trip, I liked exactly one thing about the entire state: the
Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration.
Honestly, that was it. We happened upon the aquarium by accident because it was right by our hotel and we noticed one night when we were treated to dinner at a somewhat tacky, touristy restaurant nearby. Before we went back to Michigan, we decided to go check it out.
Well, needless to say, Noe and I were both very impressed with the aquarium. It is not the biggest aquarium either of us have ever seen, but the exhibits are really well designed, the facility is clean and well laid-out, and they have some truly fantastic animals, including Steller sea lions - one of only five facilities in the world that houses them.
Since the aquarium was the first thing about Connecticut that I actually liked, I had to apply to be a volunteer when I saw the form on the website.
Most volunteers start as docents, or interpreters - the people you hear on the microphones describing the animals or hanging out by exhibits answering questions. After 100 hours of being a docent, you are eligible for other volunteer assignments, including physically working on exhibits and getting up close and personal with the animals.
Docent training was a little intense, mainly because it was packed into four full-day Saturday sessions (which included speeches and tests). I finished training last week and today worked my first day as an actual volunteer (well, I "shadowed" an experienced docent, a very nice guy named Chris).
I worked the morning shift (8:30-2:30) and rotated through three exhibits: the ray touch pool, Birds of the Outback, and Pribilof Islands.
I didn't really think much about rays before the docent training class, but I love them now. If you stick your hand in the tank and don't splash around too much, they'll come right up to you. You can pet them like a cat. Kids usually describe them as "slimy" but they are actually very silky and smooth to the touch (due to their coating of protective mucus - sorry, couldn't resist the gross-out fact).
I thought the ray touch pool was chaotic until we rotated to another interactive exhibit, Birds of the Outback. If you want to see something louder and rowdier than a room full of kids trying to touch cownose rays, just put said kids in an enclosed tent with 300 birds (cockatiels, parakeets, and rosellas - all native to Australia). Really, the most fun part about being in BotO is walking around with Captain, our "mascot" cockatiel, on your shoulder. It was sort of like being a pirate.
I got to finish my shift on one of my favorite exhibits at the aquarium, the Pribilof Islands exhibit. We were on Pool 2, the pool housing one harbor seal (Rocky), two northern fur seals - actually sea lions (Zhivago and Commander), and four of the aforementioned Stellers (Lucia, Juneau, LA, and Astro). Mainly what you do as a docent at Pool 2 is get on the microphone and alternate interesting seal/sea lion information with safety warnings (such as "do not dangle your baby over the edge of the ten-foot wall that seperates them from a pool of 500+ pound animals).
I adored my first day at the aquarium and spent the afternoon wishing I had signed up for the full day shift instead of the half (I figured that half days would be a good way to test out how much I was really going to like it). I can't wait to go back and maybe work on some different exhibits next week. And I really can't wait to get my 100 hours in so I can get even closer to these amazing animals.
This is what I do on Thursday mornings before I go to work. I play with three Beluga whales, including Inuk, the curious guy in the background there - and give them plenty of fish and tongue rubs (yes, belugas like their tongues rubbed). Sticking your hand in a whale's mouth may not be your idea of the right way to start the day, but it rates pretty high on my list.
Up until now I've been more partial to Muddy Waters than I have to the Bean & Leaf here in New London, but I haven't been frequenting coffee houses like I used to in Michigan, either. And while I still prefer Muddy's for a cup of morning joe, the Bean is a fantastic evening spot. For one thing, they're open (Muddy closes in the afternoon); two, they have an amazing selection of loose-leaf tea (I don't like coffee after 11:30 AM) and three, they have a jazz quintet on Wednesday nights. It's like the best elements of the Food Co-op and the Firefly Club in Ann Arbor combined - you can even BYOB to jazz night at the Bean. There aren't many places where you can enjoy a cup of tangerine-ginger followed by a finger of Lagavulin. (The crowd reminds me of Ann Arbor, too - thanks, Loree!)
Just kidding. Sort of. Read the New London Main Street newsletter if you want more details about that.
Coco, our biggest and oldest California sea lion. He weighs about 800 pounds right now and he is over 20 years old;
Surfer, our teenage sea lion. I secretly think Surfer is our best-looking boy in the marine theater;
Hut/Boomerang,our youngest and most playful. Hut is about two and a half and he is a handful sometimes. He loves to play with the toys we make him out of old kitty litter bins, PVC, etc.
In the water with the trainer and our beluga
Noe and I in our waders
Asking the beluga for a "high target"
Miki, our baby beluga:
Noe and I went up to Mass to attend the Big E, which is basically a state fair for all the New England states put together. There were tons of animals, rides, displays...and food. This fair had more food vendors than I have ever seen in my life. In addition to the normal midway vendors, there were also regional vendors along the Avenue of States and, in one building, the famous Big E cream puff. I am talking about two bagel-sized mounds of flaky, melt-in-your-mouth pastry with a baseball-sized scoop of cool, refreshing cream sandwiched in between and dusted with a liberal amount of powdered sugar. Noe was all for splitting one until he saw them and decided he would rather have one all to himself, leaving me to polish mine off on my own. My only complaint was I was way full when I was done.
It's mostly un-glamorous work - cutting up fish for the shows, keeping the prep area clean, etc - but the big payoff is seeing the trainers get to work new behaviors with the animals from the ground up, and...enrichment. I get to give them toys and Jell-o and any other things that the trainers come up with that is a safe change to their everyday environment. I get to be right by the edge of the pool and throw things in for them to chase. I have never been that close to an animal like that in my life. Let me tell you, if you got to stand right in front of Boomerang and throw him Jell-o cubes, you wouldn't mind cutting up a few fish, either.
I didn't really think much about rays before the docent training class, but I love them now. If you stick your hand in the tank and don't splash around too much, they'll come right up to you. You can pet them like a cat. Kids usually describe them as "slimy" but they are actually very silky and smooth to the touch (due to their coating of protective mucus - sorry, couldn't resist the gross-out fact).
I got to finish my shift on one of my favorite exhibits at the aquarium, the Pribilof Islands exhibit. We were on Pool 2, the pool housing one harbor seal (Rocky), two northern fur seals - actually sea lions (Zhivago and Commander), and four of the aforementioned Stellers (Lucia, Juneau, LA, and Astro). Mainly what you do as a docent at Pool 2 is get on the microphone and alternate interesting seal/sea lion information with safety warnings (such as "do not dangle your baby over the edge of the ten-foot wall that seperates them from a pool of 500+ pound animals).
