Okay well I promised a post explaining the things at work. Not that anyone really cares about what 'jointing whales' means; but I just watched Godfather 2 by myself and am fiercely depressed so I needed something else to do to distract me. So joint feeding jus means feeding more than one animal at a time. This doesn't sound very complicated and I thought it wouldn't be. Surprise! Here is a list of things that you would never think about but that trainers have o do when joint feeding:
1. You have to keep track of what and how much your feeding both animals at one time
2. you have to check each fish for quality as you feed it (we always do this but X 2 it gets hard)
3. you have to give both animals equal attention so as to not accidently ignore (we call this"LRS"ing) an animal and cause it to start 'offering' behaviors to get your attention
4. you have to know which animal is dominate and monitor it for signs of aggression or even subtle displacement (like turning its back to the other animal its next to)
5. you have to make sure you don't accidently reinforce (feed) an animal as it's aggressing on another animal/doing something bad
6. you have to end both animals at the same time even if they have very different amounts of food that need to be fed out (like for Kavna and Imaq 1.8 kg vs 3.5kg)

phew a lot trickier than it sounds isn't it? I got to try it once with the belugas Kavna and Imaq and while it was fun because it was challenging, I did accidently LRS Imaq and then reinforced him for something wrong. Whoops. I definitely realized that there is a LOT about training that I don't know yet. I've also been joint feeding the otters prety regularly and that's been going much better! Well it is a lot easier with them because you aren't asking them for any behaviors while you're feeding, and you aren't touching them which takes away one of the hands you could be using to feed. It was a really nice surprise today when the trainers asked me to go up to the otter exhibit by myself and joint feed 'Tanu' and 'Elfin'! Again, it's kind of sad to have to leave right when you're finally starting to feel like you can work independently and be helpful.

Well I also gave my otter talk- which is just one of the trainers giving a 5-10 minute talk about sea otters while all 3 otters are either fed or trained (depending on the time). It's essentially a 3 page spiel with a bunch of info and some corny transitions. There are 4 shows a day and I'll probably do one of them from now on. It's a little nervewracking at times, I know all the information, but sometimes you lose your place and have to skip ahead like an idiot. Also I hate hearing myself on microphone. But it is fun answering the crowd's questions because the kids get so excited.

My two new behaviors I was approved on were 'ventral' and 'pec present.' Basically these are when the whale rolls over on its belly or its side. They may seem boring, but they are some of the most important behaviors to keep strong with the animals because we really need them to do medical procedures, they are called 'husbandry behaviors'.

Hmm what else, oh yes, I led an encounter for the sea otters. Basically guests pay extra money to get a tour of some of the aquarium facilites and to feed an otter. I led a tour of three people as they fed our oldest otter Milo. As the trainer you just have to monitor everything the guests do and make sure they are feeding correctly and answer any questions. The group was really nice and didn't want to ask questions or hear much info, they just wanted to look at the otter, which was fine by me! So in conclusion, that was easy.

Oh and of course Daisy! Daisy is a rescued Harbour porpoise, aka the cutest thing I have even seen in my entire life. Seriously. She is declared unreleasable to the wild because she has been dependent on human care since she was about 6 weeks old (she is now a year). She has been in recovery and then just living at the aquarium's rescue facility, MMR (Marine Mammal Rescue) for the past year- but now she is at the aquarium and beginning training! I really hope to get at least a couple of pictures of her so that I can put them up here.

Wellllll other than that my weekend was awesome- the Chinese fireworks were amazing, they even had waterproof ones. And I laid out at English Bay with Sheri all afternoon Sunday and then went back to Lynn Canyone park by myself Monday. I went hiking and swimming and saw lots of cute dogs there, it was sooo pretty and fun and I even remembered my camera for pcitures but then forgot the battery...so no photos of that adventure- but I did see some bear tracks!

Woohooo see you all in less than 3 weeks!