Kelly Morales at Dolphin Cove before she goes to Greece to study bottlenose dolphins.In an earlier post, I mentioned the fall was a time for us to relax and take vacation. Well, one of my co-workers, Education & Conservation Department Manager Kelly Morales, is preparing for a trip, but it definitely won't be a vacation.
Kelly, along with another SeaWorld San Antonio team member, Cristina Berg, was chosen to participate in an Earthwatch project this fall. The Earthwatch Institute is an international non-profit organization that offers volunteers the opportunity to join research teams around the world and help bring science to life. The SeaWorld-Busch Gardens Conservation Fund partners with the Earthwatch Institute to fund several projects. Due to this partnership, SeaWorld and Busch Gardens parks have been able to send representatives on projects related to their field. Just from SeaWorld San Antonio, our employees have spent time studying lemurs in Madagascar and African penguins in South Africa.
Cristina, an Animal Care Specialist, just returned from a week-long trip to Canada where she monitored movements of grey whales off the coast of Vancouver Island. We hope to get a trip report up soon.
Kelly is scheduled to leave tomorrow and travel to Greece, where she will spend two weeks assisting in a population study of bottlenose dolphins in the Amvrakikos Gulf. I spoke with Kelly before she left to find out more.
How were you able to get this opportunity?
The application process includes writing essays about not only why you want to participate and how you will share your experience once you return, but also your thoughts about how SeaWorld & Busch Gardens can continue to play a role in conservation practices, wildlife care, and environmental education. Essays are reviewed by members of the Earthwatch organization, and team members are selected and placed on project teams that most fit with the work they do in the parks.
What are you most excited about?
I have always wanted to visit Greece, and I am looking forward to doing it as more than a tourist. I can't wait to meet the other members of the research team, and it is going to be so surreal to actually be out there on that boat tracking dolphins on the other side of the world. I can't wait!
What do you think you'll be able to bring back with you that will help you as a member of the Education & Conservation Department at SeaWorld?
After listening to the experiences of the other team members who have gone on expeditions, I really did care a lot about the animals and habitats they were able to experience, and it inspired me to want to go and make a difference myself. Even though I don't work with animals every day, I believe that our work in the Education & Conservation Department here at SeaWorld San Antonio encourages our campers, school visitors, and guests to care even more about the natural world, and helps them to remember that even the smallest things like recycling, reducing waste, and being responsible pet owners can make such an impact in conservation. I hope that when I come home, the stories and experiences I bring back will motivate the next person to participate because they want to make a difference too.
I wish Kelly safe traveling and I'll post some pictures of her trip once she returns.
Thanks and Gig 'em
Jack
