JKN

Juno~The funny little 8 year old whale who is fed from the green/white marked bucket and targets a whale tale. I describe him as our curious jiggly whale with wide eyes. I LOVE sitting in on Juno sessions. He is always learning and it has been absolutely fascinating to watch his training and desensitization sessions. Lindsey has been working with him to desense him to a toothbrush. The whale's get their teeth done about once a year and they each have an individual toothbrush just like ours. They are battery powered and make an annoying buzzing noise. I have been helping Lindsey by turning the toothbrush on and off when she asks me to. The first time I did it he swam away. She then had me stand farther back, he has gradually been approximated to the point where the toothbrush can now go into his mouth with the back of it touching his teeth while on turned on. He is the whale that you always see interacting with enrichment and with the public at the windows. He can blow bubble rings. He is such a smart and funny whale and I would love to see how he has developed a year from now.

Kela~She is the whale that I have worked with the most. I do not even know how I am going to say goodbye when the time comes. Kela is a whale that you have to earn everything with. Right now she is very vocal during our sessions, stays for tongue rubs, and is energetic and attentive in our sessions. However, when I first started working with her she was quiet, when through the motions, and would back away from station. It has been amazing to watch our relationship form. She is a funny whale. She gets really excited during sessions and will make weeeeeee sounds after nearly every bridge. During tongue rubs she will go underwater and spin in a circle and will give cute little vocals as if to say "more please". Kela has also shown me examples of aggression. Yelling at Juno, head nodding at Juno, jaw popping at the windows. It might look/sound cute to an outsider, but we do what we can to reduce the aggression.

Naku~Sweet, solid, patient, sharing. These are just some of the words to describe this amazing whale. Also fat. At 1400 she is the largest whale in our exhibit. I have learned so much with her. She has put up with all my mistakes (dropping things into the pool being one) and has stayed with me in sessions while I was thinking my way through it. She loves tongue rubs and will vocalize to get them. She loves ice, we can toss ice right into her mouth!! She is a very squinty whale and I am amazed that she can see our sD's and bridges. She will always share her tongue rubs with whoever else is on her session, regardless of who ended her.

I love all of these whales and it is near impossible to choose a favorite. They have all taught me so much and I will miss all of them a tremendous amount.

Wow.

In a little over two weeks I will be back in Jersey. It is so hard to believe that just a short time ago I was biting my nails over leaving home for 3 months and now I have tears in the back of my eyes from not wanting to leave. This has been such a whirlwind. I am not going to write too many more blogs. I am going to follow this one up with a few short ones summarizing my time here. I know that the next two weeks will be insane, busy, stressful, incredible, educational, and every other adjective I can think of. I have me amazing people and have formed friendships which I hope will last forever. I have developed new tools that I can use when working with and training animals. And I have had the opportunity to work with some pretty incredible whales. Writing that last sentence sent a chill through me. My college advisor once asked me what I planned on doing after graduation. I said my usual reply, marine mammal trainer. He turned to his computer and asked me what my back-up plan was for when that didnt happen. I had no answer. I still have no answer. Sure it wont happen immediately. I can see myself going back to the kennel or working at PETCO as a dog trainer or working at a zoo or aquarium with other animals. But this is the final goal. I hate that I am getting all sappy, I make fun of people for this. But it is hard not too when I have been living my dream for 3 months and soon I will back in school working at a job I hate (except for the beloved horses I work with). I am so excited for what my future holds for me, but no matter where my life take me I will always remember where I began.

Thank You All--Lindsey, Justin, Kate, Kelly, Sasha, Kim, Kristine, each and every one of the volunteers (Lila, Barret, Bill, Hilary, Kayla, and Ray), and of course the most amazing whales in the world-Juno, Kela, and Naku