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Coral World Summer Internship Program Attracts Local Youth

Natives know Coral World. Tourists too. Go on Google and type in “Sea Trek” and three pages of links related to one of the marine park’s most popular attractions will pop up. Bigger news, according to Lee Kellar, general curator at Coral World, is that the park’s summer internship program is receiving growing attention from local youth. This, he said, has led to an exceptional summer at the park.

“We’ve had more than 300 applicants this summer,” said Kellar. Because of the overwhelming interest, Coral World has accepted quite a few interns. The park has shown particular interest in locals, Kellar said. Part of Coral World’s mandate is to invite smart and motivated young people to do work at the park in order to foster animal husbandry and prepare youth for potential future staff positions, Kellar said.

According to Scott Hjerling, assistant curator of marine mammals, “Having all the summer workers really helps us. We can run a much more complex animal operation because we have help with maintaining the facilities.”

Dale and Ezra Carty, brothers and undergraduates at Liberty University, have been interning at the park during their summer and winter vacations since 2009. Ezra Carty got involved in Coral World through his interest in scuba diving. While in Boy Scouts, Carty got his scuba diving certification which he now uses for dives to clean underwater exhibits and feed fish during shows.

He also does presentations for park guests. At a sting ray presentation, Carty informed two local summer camps about sting ray physiology and behavior. The rays, expecting a feeding, were so excited they pushed themselves out of the water. The children gasped. After the presentation, Carty gave out pieces of fish to feed the rays.

In a press release by Coral World, general manager Trudie Prior said she believes that the heightened interest in Coral World internship programs is due to these kinds of educational enrichment opportunities presented to children at the marine park. The kids that are coming to the park now for internship opportunities have been developing an interest from a young age, Prior said. Carty is an example of this developing local interest.

The sea lion volunteer and internship program has been running since 2009 and naturally attracts a lot of attention. Though the volunteer and internship program for aquariums is new, it is growing. Some responsibilities of interns and volunteers for aquariums include animal feedings, cleaning tanks and backdrops, and helping with animal encounters where guests are able to interact with the animals.

While scuba certification can lead to additional responsibilities, Stephanie Stanley, aquarist and coordinator for the program, said she really wants local youth to know that certification is not a prerequisite to work at the park. “There’s lots to do without it,” she said.

Jonisha Aubain and Kheyanna Davis are both high school students at Charlotte Amalie High School and they are a part of Stanley’s program. Davis got in through the Department of Labor’s summer job program while Aubain applied directly.

Aubain and Davis, both aspiring marine biologists, said they enjoy the animal encounters and feeding the sea turtles, although other, less fun responsibilities are also expected of them, like scrubbing the algae off the sting ray pool.

Though the Coral World staff is small and could not possibly hire all of these summer workers full time, there are occasions when positions open up. When this happens, Coral World looks for hard-working interns to join the ranks.

T’Quan Smalls is one such case. Smalls started at Coral World a few years back as a summer intern through the Department of Labor and the USVI Hotel and Tourism Association. He said he expected a position in maintenance but ended up working with the sea lions as a training assistant.

Coral World is in the process of adding a dolphin program. Kellar said they will be looking for more youth to be a part of that program. We are excited to get started, he said.

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