Takeover Tuesday: Meet Dive Safety Officer LC

Posted on December 12, 2017 by NewportAquarium

Hello Everyone! My name is Diver LC and I am a Dive Safety Officer at Newport Aquarium. What does it mean to be a Dive Safety Officer? Follow along with me on this #TakeoverTuesday, and I’ll show you!

Here I am behind the scenes, getting into the acclimation pool.

I have been working at Newport Aquarium for 13 years and in that time, I have had many different roles; Exhibits Supervisor, Promotions Coordinator, Overnight Coordinator, and Penguin House- just to name a few.

All of the experiences in these different jobs that I had prior help me as a Dive Safety Officer, which I started two years ago!

I received my Dive Master Certification through Scuba Unlimited, which has also helped to give me the skills needed for such a diverse job!

In the picture below, Diver Ed and I get into the Blue Ash YMCA pool right before the new volunteer diver assessment.

Dive Safety Officers train divers, both staff and volunteers, on how to dive in the exhibits in the aquarium and what to do in the event of an emergency. We have over 100 volunteer divers and a lot of my day is spent working with them. They are the most amazing group of people I have ever met and make the job so much more fun and meaningful!

Here I am behind the scenes in our acclimation pool with two staff members during our Diver Emergency Training. This is training all divers must go through to be a diver.

During this time of year, I also have a very important role – making sure Scuba Santa is safe. We help Scuba Santa suit up behind the scenes before he enters the Surrounded by Sharks tank. We make sure his air tank is turned on before he goes in, his full face mask is secure, and his harnesses are tightened. Insider scoop- he loves his milk and cookies while warming up in a hot tub between shows and he is a SUPER nice guy!

Helping Scuba Santa gear up before he enters our Surrounded by Sharks tank.

Another highlight is when I get to dive in the Shark Tank to give a dive show presentation. This time of year, dive shows are on hold while Scuba Santa is in the Shark Tank. Scuba Santa is accompanied by dive safety elves. The elves are usually some of our volunteers divers. On this occasion, I went in with Scuba Santa.

Scuba Santa gets safety elves when he goes in the water. That’s me with the giant candy cane!

Dive Shows are one of my favorite things to do because I get to talk to you, the guests, from my favorite tank! I get to educate guests on what is in the tank and also what can be done for ocean conservation!

Some of the absolute highlights of my career have been doing guest dives for people that I really look up to – Dr. Lucy Hawkes, a physiological ecologist who studies migration in vertebrates (including sea turtles) and marine biologist, Dr. Wallace Nicholls, author of “Blue Mind,” and creator of the Blue Marble Project.

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It was an honor to get the privilege to lead them on a dive in the Shark Tank and share what I love doing with them and also the chance to talk one on one with these amazing people that are making positive changes in the World!

Bonding moment with my son in Stingray Hideaway. He visited while he was at Camp WAVE over the summer.

Some of my favorite moments are when I get to impress my 8 year old son, Connor, who wants to be a “Scuba Diving Paleontologist and in the military like Dad”. Last summer, while he was attending Camp Wave, he got to watch me diving in the shark tank and Stingray Hideaway.

When Dr. Nichols visited Camp WAVE campers this summer, he gave me this #BlueMarble. It’s part of his Blue Marbles Project, reminding everyone to take care of our blue planet. His goal is to pass a blue marble through every (yes, every) person’s hand on earth, with a simple message of gratitude. Ocean conservation is very important to me. If you think Kentucky is too far away from an ocean to make a difference, think again! Conservation is all around us! It can be as simple as picking up the trash you see so that it doesn’t go into the river and then travel to the ocean, turning off lights when you leave the room, or turning off the water as you brush your teeth. Thank you for joining me on this #TakeoverTuesday. As Dr. Nichols would say, you’ve got the whole world in your hands. –DiverLC

Takeover Tuesday: Animal Experience Specialist

Posted on August 22, 2017 by NewportAquarium

Welcome to Takeover Tuesday! My name is Kristen Guevara and I have the pleasure of volunteering for the Husbandry department through the WAVE Foundation, as well as work for the Newport Aquarium as an Animal Experience Specialist. I started volunteering when I received a Husbandry Internship in the Fall of 2016 under the mentorship of Jen Hazeres, a Senior Biologist.

: Here’s a behind-the-scenes look above the ribboned sea dragons tank. I’m getting ready to start my day cleaning each seahorse tank with our scrub pad called a “Doodle Bug.”

Hoping to find a career in the field of animal husbandry, I have been able to continue gaining volunteer experience with Laurel, the primary seahorse biologist. Through Laurel’s guidance, I have learned how much time and effort it takes to care for all of the Seahorses in our Seahorse Gallery.

Each tank is deep-cleaned once a day, using the Doodle Bug to scrub the walls of each tank, as well as cleaning up any leftover food or other particles in the tank.

In addition to scrubbing the walls, we have to clean out each tank and filtration system. This is done by hydro vacuuming the gravel (shown here) or by syphoning out any leftover food or animal waste.

Behind-the-scenes above the ribboned sea dragons tank, syphoning the tank.

Seahorses can be a little more susceptible to skin disorders because they lack the scales that fish have, but rather have bony-plated armor. Therefore, it is important to keep the seahorse tanks as clean as possible. To prevent any sort of cross contamination it is important that each tank have its own Doodle Bug, and syphon. Washing hands in between tanks is a MUST as well.

A behind-the-scenes look at one of our spiny seahorses, also called thorny seahorse.

Seahorses will use their prehensile tail to hold on to seaweed and rocks in their environment, patiently waiting for their prey to swim by. They are ambush predators so once food comes within reach they will quickly suck them up using their pipe-like snout.

This is a video of our freshwater pipefish eating one of their favorite foods, brine shrimp! Pipefish are related to seahorses and they both fall under the Sygnathidae family. Seahorses spend the entire day foraging for food because they lack a stomach! They can quickly digest food and since they have no place to store it, continually search for food during the day. To accommodate their appetite, the seahorses are fed 2-3 times a day!

This is the acclimation tank behind-the-scenes. We bring Denver, the loggerhead sea turtle, back here to find him. This tank is the same water system as our Surrounded by Sharks tank.

My personal favorite to feed is Denver, the loggerhead sea turtle. He eats separate from our sharks and shark rays because he would steal all of their food if he could! Here he is getting one of his favorite fish, Spanish mackerel.

Here I am with Bindi, a Blue Tongue Skink. She is one of our ambassador animals that we bring out for guests to meet and learn about.

Blue tongue skinks are native to Australia, and just like their name suggests, they have a bright blue tongue. This is always a highlight to my day because not only do I get to interact with the animals, but I get to share my passion for these unique animals with the guests at the aquarium.

We have daily animal encounters right outside our new Stingray Hideaway exhibit.

Animal Encounter with Bindi, the Blue Tongue Skink.

You can meet one of our outreach animals, learn some interesting facts about them, and possibly even touch one of our animal ambassadors. Bindi is just one of our many animal ambassadors that you could meet! Times of animal encounters may change, check the Newport Aquarium website for more information on animal encounters.

Last, but definitely not least, are the penguins! Our penguins are repeatedly voted as one of our guests’ favorite animals.

I like interacting with guest and answering questions they have. Here I am at Penguin Palooza, talking to guests who just watched a penguin feed.

Here I am after a Penguin Feed speaking with a few guests that had some great questions about penguins. You can see our Penguin Feed daily, check the Newport Aquarium website for times, as they may change. I am fortunate to be part of our dedicated team to ensure our guests get the most out of their visit and maybe I’ll see you on your next visit to the Aquarium!

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Takeover Tuesday: Raising a loggerhead sea turtle

Posted on July 11, 2017 by NewportAquarium

Takeover Tuesday features a “day in the life” of biologists at Newport Aquarium. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Hello there, my name is Jen. I am a Senior Biologist here at Newport Aquarium. Thank you for joining me for this #TakeoverTuesday.

I started out at Newport Aquarium 13 years ago as a diver in the tunnel tanks and as a dive show presenter! Most of our divers are volunteers through the WAVE Foundation.

I’m getting into our acclimation tank ahead of a special dive training. I started out at Newport Aquarium as a volunteer diver with WAVE Foundation. To learn more about the Volunteer Dive Program, visit wavefoundation.org

Divers receive special training on how to safely interact with the fascinating aquatic animals who call this place home. After 4 years of diving I joined the staff as a part time presenter/biologist where I worked all around the aquarium. I eventually took on a full time position as a senior biologist where I now work with the animals in the shore gallery, shark tank and anywhere else I am needed.

As a biologist I have the pleasure of working with our loggerhead sea turtles here at Newport Aquarium.

Denver, our adult loggerhead sea turtle is about 24 years old and weighs about 205 pounds! His favorite foods include fish, squid and salmon which he eats regularly, about 3-5 days a week.

Denver lives in our 385,000 gallon “Surrounded by Sharks” exhibit. Visitors have the chance to get a glimpse of Denver close up as he swims around. Due to medical reasons, Denver will continue to serve as an ambassador animal for his kind, helping to educate visitors about sea turtles, while giving them the opportunity for such a unique interactive experience.

Frank our younger loggerhead sea turtle is here as a part of the North Carolina Sea Turtle Project.

Dr. Hill helps take shell measurements during Frank’s checkup. Frank now weighs 1298 grams (2.8 pounds). Right after this checkup, he received the green light to move into a bigger tank.

Frank arrived in October of 2016 and weighed only 96 grams (0.2 pounds)! My job is to make sure Frank grows up healthy and strong as he trains for his release back into the ocean in a few months.

Frank just entered the bigger tank in the Shore Gallery. Turtle Tuesday is the perfect day to celebrate his new home. When Frank is big enough he will be released back into the ocean near the Gulf Stream! Stay tuned for our blog posts when we take Frank back out to the ocean, like we did with Shack last year.

While we’re making an impact with sea turtle rescue and rehabilitation, we’re also making a global impact with our Shark Ray Breeding Program and research here at Newport Aquarium. Our dedicated team of biologists has recently published a chapter on Shark Ray Husbandry.

We attribute part of our success in breeding due to their diet. Our four shark rays, Sweet Pea, Scooter, Sunshine and Spike eat only the finest of seafood – it’s restaurant quality!

We brought one of our shark rays, Scooter, into the acclimation tank.

The shark rays receive lobsters three days out of the week and bony fish two days of the week. Feeding the shark rays lobster is not common practice among many aquariums. Our high quality diets heavily contribute to the health and happiness of our animals.

Thank you for joining me today for #TakeoverTuesday. I hope I helped to spark an interest in these incredible animals, and how important it is to take care of their environment.

Takeover Tuesday: The Guest Experience

Posted on June 6, 2017 by NewportAquarium

Takeover Tuesday features a “day in the life” of biologists, and exhibits staff at Newport Aquarium. Be sure to follow us on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.

Hello, my name is Greg Moore, I’m a Guest Experience Supervisor here at Newport Aquarium, and I’m taking over your Tuesday!

Baby alligator, Willard, is one of the ambassador animals at Newport Aquarium. Guests have an opportunity to meet an ambassador animal, during a daily Animal Outreach in the Stingray Hideaway lobby.

As a Guest Experience Supervisor, my focus is making sure guests have the most memorable experience, and create memories worth repeating! At the Tide Pool, guests can touch amazing creatures including sea stars, horseshoe crabs and anemones.

At Newport Aquarium, guests can Sea, Touch, and Explore… Together!

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Throughout the day, our team is stationed throughout the aquarium, to welcome guests, answer questions, and teach you about the amazing animals you’ll meet.

Denver the loggerhead sea turtle joined our morning meeting. He welcomes guests to Shark Ray Bay Theater, and often likes to hang out in that window.

I love leading the team. It can be a stressful job, but so rewarding. All the jobs my team does, I also will do at any given day. In the morning, we’ll have a team clean all the acrylic throughout the aquarium, to get rid of any smudges or salt residue. Cleaning the penguin window is the best, because they’re so active in the morning and sometimes follow the pole.

Some of the King penguins go for a morning swim in Penguin Palooza.

Interacting with guests, especially kids, is one of my favorite things. To see a child’s excitement as they get to walk four feet above the shark tank, touch a shark for the first time, or even learn something new about these beautiful animals and what we can do to keep them around for future generations, is the highlight of my day!

A diver poses while in the Amazon tank.

When I was a kid, my all-time beloved animals were the penguins. So naturally, my favorite part of working at Newport Aquarium is working with the African Penguins.

When guests visit Newport Aquarium, they can purchase a Penguin Encounter and get up close and personal with these adorable birds.

When a guest is surprised by how they feel, about their crazy characteristics, how their population is declining, makes me proud to be a part of that. African penguins are an endangered species. The Association of Zoos and Aquariums launched the Invest in The Nest campaign to help save these endangered penguins in the wild.

So, when you come to the aquarium, I may be helping you touch a shark, teaching you about our sea turtle, or showing you some penguins. Hope to see you soon!

Plan your visit to Newport Aquarium: Things To Do, Visitor Tips, Additional Experiences, Penguin Encounters, Aquarium Activities, Shows and Feeds.

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Tag Archives: Takeover Tuesday

Takeover Tuesday: Meet Dive Safety Officer LC

Takeover Tuesday: Animal Experience Specialist

Takeover Tuesday: Raising a loggerhead sea turtle

Takeover Tuesday: The Guest Experience