Sea Turtle Hospital Interns
Spotlight on Samantha Ford
We get a lot of visitors from the Pittsburgh area, and sometimes we even get an intern or two from there. Samantha, a.k.a. “Sam” first spent some time with us in 2008 when she arrived with sixteen other Allegheny College students as part of an alternative spring break. Now we know for a fact that nobody, nobody, can spend any time at the hospital without falling in love with at least one of our turtles. And it was a hospital favorite, a little post-hatchling Green named “Baldie” that stole Sam’s heart. It’s a good thing Sam didn’t wait another year to apply for our internship because she would have missed seeing a much larger Baldie finally released this past June.
The physical effort involved in taking care of our patients came as no surprise to her; she’d been here and done it a few years ago. But when you sign on for the twelve-week internship you’re expected to do a lot more. Of course there’s our very challenging water system and all the peripherals attached to it. That water in our turtles’ tanks doesn’t stay clean by itself, and one of the most dreaded jobs is to be assigned to clean out “the blue hole,” the big tank in the ground that’s the first stop for water coming from the overflow pipes. If you like becoming one with the dirt and plunging your arms into the great unknown, this is the job for you. There are also two large holding tanks, what we call our “baked potatoes” because they’re wrapped in silver insulation. Sam’s eyes glazed over when she recounted scrubbing out the algae that built up inside these monstrosities over the winter. That flexibility she’s developed from her ballroom dancing proved useful far beyond her wildest dreams!
When she’s not communing with algae Sam enjoys doing turtle treatments, and especially likes working with our “babies.” She finds it incredibly cool that these critters learn to trust us so much, and says the connection is nothing short of “magical.” Little Kemp’s “Lightning” is one of her favorites, but Loggerhead “Virginia” is definitely making a run for the number one spot.
Sam’s advice to anyone contemplating our internship is: give your personal statement and essay serious thought, make sure you have a strong work ethic and a passion for animal care and be prepared to sweat a lot and smell like fish.
Sam has already graduated with her degree in Environmental Science & Psychology so she’s investigating the job market for opportunities. Once she manages to pay down some of her loans she’s contemplating graduate school and eventually a PhD in Animal Behavior and/or Art Therapy. When she’s not dancing she spends time painting. Unfortunately she didn’t bring her art supplies with her because “I didn’t think I’d have any spare time.” She thought right!
Karen Sota is the volunteer media coordinator for the Sea Turtle Hospital in Topsail Beach.
