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Clearwater
Marine Aquarium
Clearwater Marine Aquarium is a non-profit organization located in Clearwater, Florida dedicated to their mission of rescue, rehab, and release of marine life. They primarily serve as a marine animal hospital, but are also home to sea turtles, dolphins, sharks, and pelicans that have all been deemed non-releasable due to lifelong injuries or illnesses that would inhibit their survival in the wild.
One of my main responsibilities as the Marketing Intern was monitoring and posting to social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. This included reading and responding to comments and questions, checking reviews, and interacting with posts that CMA was tagged in. I also frequently created Instagram stories, which required me to take videos and photos of the animals at CMA, come up with trivia questions about them to engage our audience, and to learn a lot about each of the animals’ rescue stories.
During holidays or special occasions, I created Instagram stories and posts that resembled PSAs. I often used programs like Photoshop and Canva for creating graphics and to edit photos that would then be posted to social media, used on the website, in email newsletters, or advertisements. I made many infographics during my internship about a lot of different topics, which usually revolved around generating awareness about a particular species or the dangers that they face.
Clearwater Marine Aquarium gave me an incredible introduction to the conservation field, and solidified by desire to pursue it as a career. My job began in the office, but allowed me to grow and learn outside of that by exposing me to everything that goes into running a rescue facility. I got to see both the field work CMA does and guest experience firsthand on their boat tours and around the aquarium daily. I also shadowed the Animal Care Team occasionally to understand the required care for all the animals at the aquarium by assisting in meal preparation for the animals and watching their morning routines. Additionally, I witnessed sea turtle rescue intakes up close, hatchlings being brought in for rehab, and sea turtles being prepped for release back into the wild.
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