by George Liles

The Woods Hole Science Aquarium has programs for volunteers and interns. Most volunteers work three-to-four hours, one morning or afternoon per week.

“The volunteers really help us keep this place going,” Rachel Metz, WHSA senior aquarist said. “They’ll give us nearly 2,000 hours this year, and that’s a lot of fish feeding and tank cleaning.”

The volunteers do much of the basic animal husbandry work, allowing Metz to devote more of her time to special projects. “When they are feeding the animals, I’m able to work on designing new signs or researching carbon sump pumps,” Metz says. “Because of the volunteers, we are able devote time to really improving things in the aquarium.”

Some volunteers help Metz out on special projects, such as upgrading exhibits or rehabilitating and releasing endangered turtles.

The WHSA currently has eight volunteers, ranging in age from Falmouth High School student Molly O’Brien to retiree Marcia Copel. O’Brien has been coming in Wednesday afternoons for three years to help care for the endangered and threatened turtles. Copel is a Falmouth snowbird, a retired professional who serves as a docent at the Whitney Laboratory for Marine Bioscience at the Univeristy of Florida in the winter. In summer months, she is a one-woman docent program in the WHSA, circulating among visitors to deliver information about marine animals and giving guided tours of the ever-popular touch tanks.

Volunteers do not need previous aquarium experience – Metz personally trains each volunteer on the job. Volunteers must be 16 years old and able to make a five month commitment (longer for seal feeders). The aquarium usually has openings for volunteers, and never has more than a short waiting list. Anyone interested in volunteering can contact Metz (Rachel.Metz@noaa.gov).

The WHSA has offered formal high school summer internships for nearly 30 years. The current summer intern program began in 2002 and runs for four-to-six weeks in the summer. The interns, who must be 16 years old and have finished at least 10 th grade, spend five-to-six hours per day, five days per week, caring for animals, working on special projects, going on collecting trips, and learning about Woods Hole science. Since 2002, the summer program has hosted 32 interns drawn from public, private, and vocational high schools in six states.

The aquarium does not have a formal program for high school students during the academic year, but works with interested students to set up school year volunteer opportunities. In recent years, Tabor Academy students have spent time in the aquarium helping to care for and learn about sea turtles.