A Day in the Life: Nilly

My name is Nilly and I work as the Spring Seasonal Aquarist at the Pennington Marine Science Center in Camp Emerald Bay. I had never been to this part of the island before and was very excited to get the job, and to live on Catalina Island!

A typical day as an aquarist consists of doing rounds first thing in the morning. This is when we check on the welfare of all of the animals in the exhibits, assess tank conditions, record water quality measurements, and make sure everything in the facility is running smoothly. We feed out brine shrimp to the jellies, then might do some scrubs or siphoning in the tanks. Next are feeds, where we prepare food by cutting it into bite sized pieces for our different animals. Menu items include squid, minnows, and shrimp!  We have visitors throughout the day, and it’s always fun to answer their questions or offer some insight about an animal they might be particularly interested in learning about. Then, we may do a collections dive or snorkel in the afternoon to gather new animals, then finish with rounds and feeding out brine again. 

My favorite part about this job is that no two days are ever the same. One day we might be out on a boat doing a plankton tow, and the next, freeing a fox that got its head stuck in a jar of Parmesan cheese (based on true events). A piece of advice I would give to someone hoping to work at the PMSC one day would be to remember to ask questions and to let yourself be curious - that’s how you learn!