We went up to the Dockyards yesterday to have a bite to eat and decided to check out the Maritime Museum and the fort which is absolutely enormous and totally amazing. It was well worth the 10 bucks it cost to get in as in addition to the museum you get to see the Commissioners house (very grand!)and to see the dolphins at Dolphin Quest. While we were watching the dolphins, the trainer came out to chat and upon learning that we live here asked if I would be interested in doing some volunteer work over the next couple of months. Turns out 3 of the dolphins are pregnant and they need people to record anything and everything about how the pregnancy is coming along and then once the babies are born, to assist with the record keeping on how often they are nursing, how long etc. All volunteers will be called when the dolphins go into labour so that we can be there to watch them being born. (Apparently it takes about 2 hours to deliver a dolphin so the staff indicate they will call all the volunteers up and should have enough time to get there to watch.)
All of the dolphins are due in May. I will likely do a couple hours a week either after work or on the weekends as they need people to monitor the dolphins 24 hours a day. )
I of course think this is the coolest thing ever and quite possibly a once in a lifetime experience so I signed up on the spot. Certainly would not be able to do something like this living on the prairies! I was actually on a website the other day checking out all the different volunteer opportunities that exist here in Bermuda and was thinking of doing something at the aquarium as they need turtle scrubbers
(apparently sea turtles need to be scrubbed once a month!) as well as people to help feed the seals and that kind of thing which I might still sign up for once my time is over with the dolphins) One thing that I really like about Dolphin Quest here is that while they allow you to swim with the dolphins, you are not permitted to "ride them" like you are allowed to do at other dolphin attractions. The trainer indicated that the dorsal fin is all cartilage and they feel it would be like having a hundred people a day pulling on your ears- not very pleasant!
