A love for the Sea: Maya Black

Maya has always had a fascination with sea life and wondered what it would be like to work in that field. On her sixteenth birthday, Maya received the surprise of a life time; she was going to Clearwater, Florida to visit the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA). Once she arrived at the Aquarium, she found out she would get to be a trainer for a day. Maya worked with a famous dolphin, Hope, from the movie Dolphin Tale. She learned multiple hand signals for the dolphin and was lucky enough to on the dolphin platform where she showed a large audience the tricks that she had taught the dolphins. “I learned some hand motions that I would be showing to Hope to make her do tricks. That was really fun. There were so many tourists surrounding me and their reaction to the trick made me so happy. I did it!” So many of her dreams came true at Clearwater Marine Aquarium. The trip was something Maya will never forget.

From then on, Maya knew she wanted to become more involved in marine biology community and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium was the perfect place for that. Maya made it a goal to get an internship. “Internships are competitive, depending on which one I want to apply for; education, guest services. Some are more competitive than others. A friend of mine applied for a dolphin trainer internship and she couldn’t get in right away. She had a back up plan and got into their scuba diving program and she eventually worked herself up to being in the dolphin training internship. That really inspired me to start with something I was still passionate about but wasn’t my actual goal. This way I can use this experience as motivation to work toward being in the dolphin training internship at some point,” Maya shares. Maya’s main goal is to be in the dolphin training internship at CMA and hopes that she can eventually work her way up to being accepted into the program.

She stated that while she was down in Florida, she looked into Sea World for an internship but the two-hour commute twice a day was too much for her so, CMA was the perfect choice as she quickly fell in love with the CMA community. Maya stated that she would be spending her time at the aquarium as it is the “prime location unless it is a rescue or release project.” Maya loved everything about the aquarium. “As a community, they really focus on healing the animals and making sure the animals are receiving the best care possible.”  While she was there, she was able to go behind the scenes and get a feel for what her life would be working there. She went to the room where workers prep the fish that they give to dolphins as treats, “It was really cold in there and it didn’t smell that great.” She laughs.

Clearwater Marine Aquarium is an organization unlike any other. Their mission states, “we believe in preserving our environment while inspiring the human spirit through leadership in the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of marine life; environmental education; research; and conservation. We are a non-profit organization.” While being a non-profit organization, to support the work being done, CMA is also a very popular tourist spot, as two of its dolphins are “famous” from the hit movie, Dolphin Tale. While the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of the surrounding marine life are the main focus of the aquarium, the aquarium also focuses on the tourist experience. People come from all over to see Winter the dolphin. Winter was the star of Dolphin Tale as well as her daughter Hope.

After the internship, Maya plans to use the skills and information she learns as an elementary school teacher. When asked about which grade she wanted to teach, Maya laughed and said “second or third grade because they are young enough to understand, but not old enough to talk back a lot and have an attitude.” Maya is a dedicated student and knows that things don’t always go as planned which is why she has a back up plan. If Maya decides that she doesn’t enjoy elementary education, Maya will pursuit a job in high school education, teaching high schoolers marine biology. Her hands-on experience and training will be beneficial as she will be literally teaching people every day about things at the aquarium and giving them information about it.