Wednesday, August 30, 2023

SPECIAL OFFER ON BOOK 2 (Predators)

 Hi Sea Fans!



It's been a very long time since I posted something, I'm sorry about that. I come back with good news though...my first book (Abby's Aquarium Adventures - English version) has sold out! You can still get your hands on a copy of book 2 though (Predators).  Just send me an email at demaine2@gmail.com and I'll post one to you for R65 + postage. It's a special offer till the end of the year.

Sea you soon!

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Thursday, April 25, 2019

Change of contact details

Hi Sea Fans!

Until I can get my website sorted out, if you'd like to order books, please contact me at demaine2@gmail.com.

(Only 15 books left)



Have a great week!
Sea You Soon!
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Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Dolphin Marine Magic

Giinagay!


That means “hello” or “welcome” in the language of the local Gumbaynggirr Aboriginal people on the Coffs Coast.

I have had a blast with the animals and trainers here at Dolphin Marine Magic! I got to see everything that they do in their job taking care of the animals, including all the fun jobs … and some of the less fun jobs!


At Dolphin Marine Magic, they want guests to experience, discover and then act to help save our planet! So one of the first things on my To Do List was getting kissed by the Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins and Australian Sea Lions!

Zippy the dolphin giving me a big smooch!
Throughout the day, the marine mammal trainers will do training sessions with the animals. The training sessions are really fun and positive for the animals, so they get really excited for training time! The trainers use different tools, including something called a target (which looks like a big matchstick). The animals are taught to touch different body parts to the target. By training this way, they can show the animals what they would like them to do. I helped them do some target training with Ozzie, their biggest male Australian Sea Lion at the park! (and boy was he big!  I could have been his snack...luckily he prefers fish :))

One of the main jobs of the marine mammal trainers is to monitor (keep an eye on/check) the health of the animals that they take care of. This is done by doing a daily health examination on all the animals. This includes checking all over the body for any cuts, scratches or injuries, checking eyes, teeth, gums, body condition and behaviour.

"Say Aah!" (Elle getting her teeth checked by me.)
Elle and I became great buddies.
The animals are also given lots of toys throughout the day as part of their environmental enrichment program (in other words, they are kept from getting bored). Some of the toys are things such as balls, chew ropes, food puzzles, buoys, ice blocks and even unique objects that their trainers have dreamt up! I got to help prepare some ice blocks for the animals.
My timing was perfect because I got to join in with Zippy’s 29th birthday celebrations! We celebrated this in style: a big birthday party where all the park visitors were invited, with a big fish cake and Zippy’s favourite toy, his football!
Dolphin Marine Magic is also a temporary home for many rescued animals. Throughout the year, the staff and vets help to rescue, rehabilitate (fix them up) and release around 100 animals each year. This includes whales, dolphins, seals, sea lions, turtles, fish, sharks, penguins and seabirds. One of the Animal Care Staff, Isaiah, asked me to help him attach a temporary tag to one of the rescue turtles so that they can identify and monitor its health while it is in their care. 

During a presentation by one of the guides, I learnt two things:
1- Visitors to the centre are encouraged to keep their pet dogs and cats inside at night time to protect native wildlife such as the Little Blue Penguins. 
2 - It was penguin breeding season! I got to help prepare some nesting materials for the penguins to build a nest to lay their eggs and help check inside their burrows each day to look for eggs and newly hatched chicks.
Along with all the really unusual stuff, I also got to do some of the day-to-day stuff like cleaning the reef aquarium and feeding the fish sharks and rays. The aquarium displays the animals which can be found in the Solitary Islands Marine Park just off the Coffs Coast. It extends for 75km (46 and a half miles) and is unique as it is the meeting place for temperate waters from the south and warm tropical waters from the north (A meeting place for two different temperatures of water - very much like Cape Town, where I'm from). This results in a high diversity of habitats and animals (lots of different animal homes and animals) in the Marine Park. While fishing is allowed in the Marine Park, it is important to make sure that you don't catch fish that are too small and that you don't catch too many (there are limits for each species) to make sure there are plenty of fish and animals left for future generations to enjoy.
Cleaner Abby :)
So, like I said before, there's normal stuff to do each day too. Being a marine mammal trainer isn’t a completely glamorous job. I woke up at 6 AM to help prepare all the animals’ food for the day!


I had to sort through almost 100 kilograms of fish to select the best ones for the animals to eat. Each of the animals has a diet tailored for their specific needs. Afterwards, I scrubbed down the entire fish kitchen till it sparkled! 

There is also a lot of work that goes into making sure the water in the animals’ pools is nice and clean. The water is tested up to four times a day to make sure it is clean. The tests include monitoring important chemical levels such as pH, temperature, chlorine, salinity and dissolved oxygen. I helped out in the lab ... no white lab coat needed :)


Dolphin Marine Magic and Zoos Victoria not only look after the animals in their care, but also the wildlife outside their walls!  They started a program called “Seal the Loop”. This program encourages members of the community to throw used and discarded (left around because it can't be used anymore) fishing line into the Seal the Loop bins to ensure animals do not swallow or become entangled in it. 
A Seal the Loop bin.
Apparently, Calamity, one of Dolphin Marine Magic's rescued dolphins, came to them because of being entangled in a fishing line.  The staff are super keen to make sure that doesn't happen to any other animals! They've set up 27 bins in the Coffs Harbour region. Along with volunteers, staff regularly collect the fishing line in these bins. It's quite amazing, they've collected over 60 km (37 miles) of fishing line since the project started in Coffs Harbour! (That's about 600 soccer fields long - Shew!!)

After all the serious stuff, I also got to do some sightseeing around the Coffs Harbour area. One of the “must dos” is to visit the Big Banana! Australia is famous for its many big things, such as the Big Prawn, the Big Pineapple and the Big Merino. The Big Banana is one of Australia’s original and first big things!
Can you see me next to the giant banana?

So that's Australia done.  Follow me and I will take you to more exotic places.  Where will I go next?  Can you guess?

Have a great week Sea Fans!
Cheers
Abby
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Tuesday, August 1, 2017

The humble Humbolt

Hi Sea Fans!

I saw coral babies, copepods, fish babies and more at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, but I couldn't leave before saying hi to the Humboldt penguins.  We have the African Penguin in South Africa (seriously endangered!) which makes a honking sound that has earned it the name JACKASS penguin :)



The Humboldts are just as noisy!!

https://youtu.be/zbipSRks_N4?t=5

These guys are VULNERABLE because of habitat loss, overfishing, invasive species and indsutrial development.  The CZA has 12 penguins that are all a part of the Species Survival Plan (SSP) for Humboldt penguins.
Since joining the SSP in 1996, the zoo has had a total of 28 chicks and raised 26 of them! (2 eggs were shipped to other zoos - don't want to keep all the eggs in the same basket ;))

I was just about to leave when Dan called me over and asked if I could help him.
The manatee exhibit needs to be cleaned every day (scrub the rockwork, clean the algae off the acrylic window, clear the drains) so I played a bit of "spot the dot on the window" for Dan whilst he cleaned them.

So that was my visit to CZA, thanks so much to all the staff, especially Mallory for showing me around.

Hope you enjoyed that Sea Fans!  There's more to come.
Have a great week.
Chat soon
Abby
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Tuesday, July 18, 2017

From coral babies to fish babies

Hi Sea Fans!

Last time I showed you the Discovery Reef at Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, today I want to tell you more about Discovery Reef.

 The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium also wants to do their part for wild fish. Along with many other aquariums and research universities, CAZ runs a marine aquaculture project (breeding marine fish, many of which have specialized diets and habitats).  
A tank with fish that have been brought up at the aquarium. These fish can eventually go on display or be shipped to other aquariums. 
This project helps us all (aquarium people) to understand fish growth better as well as different ways of growing live foods 
These are copepods in the tubs, they are live food that is fed to the aquarium fish.

so that we don't have to keep taking from the wild.  This aquaculture project has allowed the zoo to work closely with the Rising Tide Conservation project. 

Rising Tide Conservation is a non-profit dedicated to the protection of coral reefs through sustainable aquaculture. The part of the Rising Tide Conservation mission statement that says it best: “We know that by sharing education, we can increase the amount of captive-bred species of marine ornamental fish available to aquarium hobbyists and reduce our impact on coral reefs.”


Another amazing day!  

Have a great week Sea Fans!
Chat soon
Abby
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Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Discovery Reef

Hi Sea Fans!

Yup, it's part 2 of my Columbus Zoo and Aquarium adventures :) After spending time with the manatees, I got to discover the aquarium and learn more about coral babies!

Discovery Reef contains the zoo’s 322 000 litre salt water exhibit.
There are 4 species of shark (bonnethead, zebra, epaulette, and bamboo) and many different types of fish in here. Discovery Reef also has plenty of smaller displays with fish and live corals that are grown at the zoo.  Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has been involved in a very important program for Sexual Coral Reproduction, or SECORE for short.

Since 2003, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium has partnered with SECORE International to help protect and restore coral reefs throughout the Caribbean and the Pacific. Keepers from the Columbus Zoo and researchers working with SECORE use state of the art husbandry techniques to collect gametes from spawning corals in order to fertilize them and then raise the coral larvae (coral babies!) into juvenile coral colonies which can then be replanted onto degraded reefs. Using a combination of education, outreach, research and restoration SECORE is helping give coral reefs a future. (Now don't you want to be a part of something amazing like this?!  CZA staff are sooooooo lucky!)

These coral grow out tanks are very important for the keepers to understand the best environments (temperature, salinity, lighting) for the coral and this, in turn, helps the aquarists out when they are in the field working with SECORE International.  This coral tank has a surge device that delivers strong intermittent water surges with shorter periods of gentle water flows. The lights above these corals are 400W so they are quite powerful and exactly what the corals need to grow.  After the corals have grown to a size deemed healthy enough, the aquarists will remove fragments (pieces of coral) and transplant them into our exhibits around Discovery Reef as natural habitats for the many marine species. 

This was probably my best day at CZA!  How awesome is it that they are helping to restore our coral reefs?!  Just another day in the life of an aquarist :)

Have a great week Sea Fans!
Chat soon
Abby
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Tuesday, June 27, 2017

Manatees!

Hi Sea Fans!

I've really been so lucky, what started as a 1 year round-the-world-trip to visit people working with marine life, has ended up being 5 1/2 years so far!  Thank you to everyone who has hosted me and shown me what they do in a day, it's been a blast!

So anyway, my next stop was Columbus Zoo and Aquarium.  Gee, where do I start?  I got to experience so much... let's start with the Manatee Rehabilitation Partnership (MRP). 

"The highest single cause of mortality to manatees is boat strikes.  Manatees also face being entangled in fishing lines, deal with pollution, entrapment, harassment (calf and mother are separated), habitat loss, cold stress, and red tide. We see animals here that are recovering from injuries, calves that are orphaned, and animals suffering from cold stress. Cold stress happens when the water temperature drops below 68° F and can leads to lethargy, anorexia, hypothermia and even death. This predisposes animals to a variety of infections, causes organ groups to shut down, loss of skin, as well as pneumonia and death." Mallory Seibold

Columbus Zoo and Aquarium is the most northern facility in the US to rehabilitate and release Florida manateees. Due to their large appetites (and they can eat LOTS!!!!!!!!!!!), the manatees are some of the most expensive animals to feed here.  They don't just eat lettuces, they also get sweet potatoes and apples for treats :)

The Manatee Coast exhibit has 5 manatees: Stubby (who lives here permanently because she lost most of her tail and can't swim properly); 
June Bug; Jedi; Millenium; and Falcon.  (Except Stubby, they are all juveniles who were orphaned at a young age and couldn't survive on their own. Millenium and Falcon are the smallest and youngest manatees that CZA has ever cared for...and they're twins! Very unusual for manatees.)

Stubby gets to do training sessions where she rolls on her back and presents her flipper for medical exams - I got to help Kevin, the trainer!  

Thanks CZA!!!  Don't stop reading now though Sea Fans, there's more coming in the next few weeks, keep your eyes on my blog :)

Chat soon
Abby
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