Wednesday, I got to visit the Alaska Sea Life Center. Honestly, a place my nerdy self could sit in for hours and observe animals in. The Sea Life centers interests me in many ways. I’ve always had an interest in zoos- and a confusing moral standing on animals in captivity. But this place really tickles me because they’re not just displaying animals, but working with many places on research, as well as rehabilitating sick and injured marine animals. It’s cool to think about a projects that they work on and how it’s beneficial. For example, Kenai Fjords National Park worked on a Black Oyster Catcher project that involved using feathers to see what their diets consisted of. The Sea Life Center offered a control for this research, because they have an oyster catcher that they know exactly what it has eaten. Just one example of many, I’m sure, but cool to me none the less. They will also be working on the invertebrate part of the changing tides project (which I am focused on this summer). As always, here’s a few photos!
Kaiti Grant 