This is me in front of the REEF on my very last day of my internship. I made some great memories there, and I hope I’ll be able to go back and visit some day.
My last week in Santa Barbara was an exciting one. Similarly to every other week, I spent time cleaning tanks, feeding the animals, and having programs come in to explore the REEF.
On Tuesday, Lynette and I had an exciting discovery. We were given the task to clean out the holdfast tanks, which are just full of life. The holdfast is what holds giant kelp to the rocks on the bottom of the ocean, and there are many different types of animals that live in them. So, as we were scooping out the old holdfast from the tanks, we came across many brittle stars, crabs, and pistol shrimp. We put all of them in a tub so that we could add them to the touch tanks when we were finished. Our best discovery of the day, however, was the tiny octopus that Lynette found in her tank. The REEF hasn’t had an octopus for awhile, so we were very excited about it. Because they can escape so easily, we put the octopus in a jar with holes in it, and put it in one of the touch tanks. By the time I left, no one had named it yet, but I think they are gonna name it after Hank from Finding Dory.
This is a picture of some of the shrimp we found in the holdfast. There were so many animals hiding out in there, and it was so cool that we could just put them right into our tanks.
Wednesday I got to be a part of a Nautilus Live show, which was one of the coolest things I have done while in Santa Barbara. Before the show, Shayla, Alexa, Colleen, and I tabled for MSI (the Marine Science Institute). We set up an area where people could learn about the natural oil seepage in the Santa Barbara Channel, and learn about deep sea coral and the effects of ocean acidification on the coral. I learned so much about these two subjects within a couple of days, and I enjoyed being able to share my knowledge with other people.
After tabling, we went inside and got to listen to Bob Ballard talk about his career and his adventures throughout his lifetime. For those of you that don’t know, Bob Ballard was the first person to see the Titanic on the bottom of the ocean. He has done an amazing amount of ocean exploration around the world, and it was a wonderful experience to be able to listen to him talk first hand about his adventures.
Thursday was my last day at the REEF, and it was bittersweet. The morning was super busy, with around 90 college students visiting the REEF to learn about what we teach kids and how we teach them when they come to the REEF. We explained to them the different ideas we cover with the different age groups, and what activities we do to teach these ideas. We then had another camp called Aquacamp visit the REEF for an hour and a half. The group was full of super cute kids that were all sorts of eager to learn about the ocean.
I then went to lunch with Scott, which was sort of like a farewell lunch. It was good to spend time with him and talk about my internship. We went over what I have done and what I have learned. We wanted to make sure that my internship at the REEF met my expectations, and it definitely did!
This is a picture of my flight back to Denver. The view was too gorgeous not to share!
Being in Santa Barbara for six weeks was an amazing experience, and I will cherish the memories forever! I learned so much, anything from the scientific name of a bat star (asterina miniata), to learning how to teach different age groups, to knowing how to chop up the fish just right so it could fit in the baby shark’s mouth. From working at the REEF, I acquired many new skills pertaining to working with people and keeping a facility running smoothly. My time at the REEF was something that will help me for the rest of my life, and I am extremely grateful for that!
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