While here in Australia, the opportunities that this study abroad has allowed me to experience have been quite amazing. I’ve been able to work with people who are passionate about the animals they work with and they’ve shared what they get to do everyday with me. During my time here I’ve worked at the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center on Fitzroy Island, the Sea Turtle ICU Center on the mainland, a veterinary clinic right outside of town, and Cairns Marine.
On Fitzroy Island is the Sea Turtle Rehabilitation Center where sea turtles that have been rehabilitated are awaiting their return to the ocean. They currently are holding 6 turtles, one to be released in the next couple of weeks back into the ocean. I was able to learn about each of the turtles including how they ended up at the rehabilitation center and the treatment they have gotten while there. I spent my days here cleaning the tanks, preparing meals, and feeding the sea turtles.
The mainland center for the sea turtles is where the they hold turtles that are undergoing treatment. They had 5 turtles there, but over this past weekend one of the turtles was able to be released. Normally after treatment in completed the turtle is moved to the island until it is ready to be released but in this case the sea turtle, named Olive, was being fitted with a tracking device on the mainland and was ready to be released right after. My day here was similar to the island, I would clean tanks, prepare meals, and feed the turtles. I had the extra opportunity to hold one of the turtles while her plastron (underneath of her shell) was sprayed with a medication. This turtle, named Penny, was suffering from severe starvation and had wounds on her plastron that need antibiotics daily. Also while at this center, I was able to get an up close view of how Fibropapilloma affects sea turtles as one of the turtles their is suffering from it. It is a very contagious herpes virus that affects green sea turtles.
At the veterinary clinic I was able to experience the similarities and differences between how Australia clinics are run compared to American clinics. One thing I noticed right away was that they spell Spay as Spey. I had written it on the board the American way and was immediately called out for it! Much of what they do is similar to how we do things. I did ask questions about the laws they have here in this country and found the answers to be quite interesting. Declares, ear crops, and tail docking is illegal in this country. All pets that are slated/neutered must be tattooed on the inside of their ear to show that they have altered. Also, pitbulls are banned from this country, but pitbull mixes and American stafferdshire terriers are allowed.
The marine center was probably my favorite to work at. The center collects fish and coral from the reef and sells them to private owners and aquariums around the world. What is very interesting about this center is that they are passionate about the animals and doing little to absolutely no harm to the environment and the animals. They care about educating the public as much as they can about the different animals they have. Any animals that are injured or diseased are quarantined and will go through treatments to be brought back to health. All animals are quarantined before they are sold to ensure they are healthy. During my work day here I was able to learn about everything they do, view all of their different sea creatures they have, clean tanks, feed fish and coral, help with calculating salinity and the pH of the water that new shipments of creatures arrived in, and helped with setting up new arrivals in their tank. It was definitely an amazing experience and I learned a lot about the care of the different sea animals.
Overall my experience in the different areas were absolutely amazing. I was able to learn so many new things that I can use in the future in my field. If I decide to move towards marine veterinary work I have a great start!