I GOT THE INTERNSHIP!

Great news: I got the internship I wanted! Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I need to back up and explain what I've been up to the past 2 weeks.

I persistently harassed the Georgia Aquarium and Marine Conservation Society Seychelles (MCSS) until the Georgia Aquarium finally called me to set up an interview. I had my phone interview last Thursday during Spring Break and they called me on Sunday to tell me I was accepted. (Actually they only had 2 positions available and I was 1 of them!) They gave me until Tuesday to decide. Well then I immediately emailed the MCSS and told them I was offered another internship and they had until Tuesday at noon to tell me if I was accepted or not. I got an email from the MCSS the next day saying I was accepted to THEIR program too! So I went from the Honduras Whale Shark Oceanic Research Center as my back up plan to having 2 legit internships in a matter of a few days. Long story short, I picked the MCSS as my internship choice for a few reasons:

1. I'll be doing specifically whale shark ecotourism! (I'll help spot them overhead, I'll be on the boat recording observations of the whale sharks found, I'll be leading snorkel groups of tourists who will swim with the whale sharks, I'll be helping with photo identification, and I'll be doing office work of putting the info in databases... among other things)

2. It starts in August so I have more time to prepare (thesis, saving money, etc)

3. I won't be bothered by the ethics behind aquariums (P.S. The Georgia Aquarium has already had 2 whale sharks die in their exhibit)

4. At the Georgia Aquarium, the only animals I wouldn't handle as much would be the whale sharks and rays (which in some ways defeats the purpose of a whale shark internship)

The point is.... I'm PUMPED for doing my 10 week internship with the MCSS. So now that I know where I'm going my planning can really begin. I spoke with the director of the International Center to tell him my plans to do an international internship. He told me he was onboard, he could be my advocate, there was money to be given (but not a lot), he told me of a few extra fees I wasn't aware of, like insurance the schools will make me buy. He wanted me to make a budget to show him and find out how many credits my internship would be and then come talk to him again. I've been bouncing around from advisor to advisor deciding on if I want it to count in Biology or Envt Studies (aka Envt Management/Technology? because ENST doesn't offer an internship class). So, I'll need to continue on that. The good news is that I've already done my budget, so I just need to add in the few extra fees I know of and add the tuition cost after I find out which internship class I should/can register for.

Now I can finally start fleshing out my thesis idea. I definitely want to incorporate how studying whale shark aggregations can help in understanding the other species the whale sharks feed off of who group together at those areas at the same time. I need to focus my research specifically on the whale sharks around the Seychelles and draw some broader conclusions for whale sharks in other parts of the world. For my ZOOL 4000 (Animal Behavior) class we have to write a paper on any animals behavior so I'm writing on whale shark aggregations. This has been so much easier because I have lots of good articles to draw from because of my research for this class.

Also this week I finally watched the only whale shark documentary I know of (if there are others please let me know) called "Shores of Silence". It's not very long and can be watched free online. I recommend it! Ok that's what I've been up to for the past 2 weeks. As always, any feedback for my actual thesis idea would be appreciated!

Still Moving Forward in 3 Different Directions

I found out why the MCSS (Marine Conservation Society Seychelles) has extended their intern application deadline until the end of the month: they short-listed 12 people--myself included--but when they asked if everyone was still interested only 3 people were--myself included! Does this mean I have the internship? Haha, I don't know, maybe because they don't have anyone else at the moment, then yes? They told me I'd find out if I got it at the end of the week, but I haven't heard anything yet. Also, the Georgia Aquarium called this week and set up a phone interview with me for next Thursday! That's progress.

But still the dilemma is that I don't know WHERE I'm going yet, so I still feel like I'm moving forward in 3 different directions (MSCC, Georgia Aquarium, or WSORC). So I'm just focusing on researching whale sharks and ecotourism more. I found 9 more articles but I still need to finish going through them and finding which ones are most useful. I've started focusing more on whale shark articles in the Seychelles Islands just in case I get that internship. The MSCC is my #1 internship choice so far.

The last class we had still haunts me about finding 3 faculty to be on my "committee", so until I know where I'm going I won't worry about it... Also, what the heck should my thesis be. I tentatively said in the last blog if I went to the MSCC I would want to possibly study the successful components of their whale shark ecotourism efforts and how the MCSS works in conjunction with the Shark Institute and other more global organization. Good idea or bad idea?

Still Waiting

I'm still waiting to hear back from the Marine Conservation Society Seychelles (MCSS) as to whether or not I was accepted to be an intern in the fall. I looked on their website and it said they're now accepting applications until March 31st when originally applications were due in December. Their intern's training and duties include:

1. The Seychelles whale shark programme: findings, achievements, why it exists 2. Basic whale shark information and biology 3. Whale shark data collection: filling out forms, writing up data, the systems and spreadsheets 4. Photo identification: sorting and filing images, pre-process preparation, matching software 5. Snorkel training and water skills development for whale shark activities (subject to qualifications) 6. Communication training: between micro-light and boat and between boats 7. Boat operations: logistics, protocols, and safety 8. Micro-light aerial survey support and data handling, software use 9. Environmental monitoring equipment use, data capturing and handling 10. Study area orientation and geography The progress I wanted to make this week was to outline my capstone thesis if I were to go to the A) Georgia Aquarium, B) Marine Conservation Society Seychelles, or C) Whale Shark Oceanic Research Center. Right now as it stands, if I were to go with A: Georgia Aquarium, my tentative thesis would be going along with the comments I have been given "How can we most accurately study the behavior of the whale shark-- through aquarium research or in the wild?" I want my MCSS thesis to somehow study the successful components of their whale shark ecotourism efforts and how the MCSS works in conjunction with the Shark Institute Seychelles and other more global organizations. If I went to Honduras with the WSORC I would want to see how effective educational efforts are in promoting conservation and protecting whale sharks, and again look at the successful (or unsuccessful) components of their ecotourism operation. So now I'm still stuck waiting to hear back from the Georgia Aquarium and the MSCC so I can make some definite progress in the right direction instead of moving forward in 3 different directions. I need the most input helping me round out my thesis ideas for the MCSS and WSORC.