SEA Discovery Center
For my service learning I continued my volunteering at the SEA Discovery Center in Poulsbo WA. This is an activity that I have been participating in for several years (since I was 12 or 13) and that I enjoy very much. The volunteer coordinator is Lauren Kemper (Lauren.Kemper@wwu.edu), and the current aquarium director is Sylvia Yang. My duties at the center range from interacting with visitors and educating them on our exhibits, to feeding and cleaning them. Our goal at the center is to provide free and honest education about both our local ecosystems and ecosystems found all around the world. We also aim to bring awareness to simple ways the public can help maintain our fragile ecosystems, such as monitoring water PH and cleaning up the local parks.
Volunteering at the SEA Discovery Center has been an important part of my life, when I was 7 years old I discovered a vast love for the ocean and the animals within it. At the time the aquarium in Poulsbo had been struggling and there was no way for me to explore my interest in marine biology. About 5 years later my biology teacher had told me that the Aquarium was seeking new volunteers and the moment I started I found that I could not get enough of the place. Volunteering here has shown me how vital public education is, and it has brought awareness of how delicately balanced our world is. It has also shown me just how easy it is to aid the environment in coping with humanity. I have also found a middle ground between ignorance of our ecosystem's plight and ignorance of humanity's needs that was previously not present in my community.
I believe that volunteering at the SEA Discovery Center back up what I learn in biology. It provides a place where I can touch and see what I have learned in our biology course. It has been a vital platform for me to use as I inform my friends, family and community, of the amazing bio diversity in our Puget sound. The most fascinating thing I learned at the center to date is that the colors of the Puget sound are not drab, but rather vibrant and colorful. It amazes me that so many colors could exist in such a cold environment.
A few questions that have arisen from my work at the SEA Discovery Center are: How our are local six gill sharks related to the ones off the coast of Japan? How do sea anemones reattach themselves to the substrate when the water current pull them way form the shallows? Why do our local leather stars posses an immunity to wasting disease when members of the same species are being killed off by it on the pacific coast? And last but not least how is it possible for a sea star to capture and eat a crab when crabs are at least 4 times as fast.
Volunteering at the SEA Discovery Center has been an important part of my life, when I was 7 years old I discovered a vast love for the ocean and the animals within it. At the time the aquarium in Poulsbo had been struggling and there was no way for me to explore my interest in marine biology. About 5 years later my biology teacher had told me that the Aquarium was seeking new volunteers and the moment I started I found that I could not get enough of the place. Volunteering here has shown me how vital public education is, and it has brought awareness of how delicately balanced our world is. It has also shown me just how easy it is to aid the environment in coping with humanity. I have also found a middle ground between ignorance of our ecosystem's plight and ignorance of humanity's needs that was previously not present in my community.
I believe that volunteering at the SEA Discovery Center back up what I learn in biology. It provides a place where I can touch and see what I have learned in our biology course. It has been a vital platform for me to use as I inform my friends, family and community, of the amazing bio diversity in our Puget sound. The most fascinating thing I learned at the center to date is that the colors of the Puget sound are not drab, but rather vibrant and colorful. It amazes me that so many colors could exist in such a cold environment.
A few questions that have arisen from my work at the SEA Discovery Center are: How our are local six gill sharks related to the ones off the coast of Japan? How do sea anemones reattach themselves to the substrate when the water current pull them way form the shallows? Why do our local leather stars posses an immunity to wasting disease when members of the same species are being killed off by it on the pacific coast? And last but not least how is it possible for a sea star to capture and eat a crab when crabs are at least 4 times as fast.
in the picture above the sea stars on the outside are Mottled Stars and the one in the middle is an ochre star.
The picture above is a copper rock fish.
The flat fish above is believed to be a spotted halibut.
The picture above is of one of our hermit crabs we have several species and most of them look identical with their shell on.
The picture above and the one below are of a Kelp Crab Which is a type of spider crab.
All Photos Were Taken By Me
Hello Samuel,
ReplyDeleteI am really impressed by your implication at the poulsbo aquarium. It is awesome that you are able to spend a part of your time doing what you truly love. I totally agree with you when you say that it's impressive to see how our world is delicately balanced: it's thanks to people like you that imply themselves that we increase our chance to keep it balanced for a little bit longer. Also, I really enjoyed looking at your animal pics, they all look entertaining to watch and handle. However, it took me few seconds to find the spotted halibut in your thrid pic lol.
Hi I was too very impressed by you volunteering at a young age and sticking with it that long I had volunteered at a vet clinic when I was 14 years old and when I turned 18 years old ended up getting a job there. Which since I want to be a veterinarian was a great experience for me. I am a big advocate for people getting out into the world and volunteering. If more people did what you did we would have much more well rounded people. It sounds like a very cool place to volunteer and I am glad that you can use that knowledge that you have gained in your biology classes!
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