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NMFS Northeast Fisheries Science Center
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Woods Hole Science Aquarium Looking for Volunteers
The Woods Hole Science Aquarium (WHSA) is looking for volunteers to help care for animals in the aquarium collection. WHSA volunteers help prepare food, clean tanks, feed animals, and work on special projects such as updating exhibit signs.
“This is hands-on work, and it sometimes involves getting wet or dirty and smelling fishy,” said Rachel Metz, the WHSA senior aquarist who supervises volunteers. “The aquarium staff appreciates our volunteers and we enjoy training and teaching – so volunteering is an opportunity to learn about aquarium operations and marine animals.”
Volunteers must be at least 16 years old and must be able to work two-and-a-half or three hours, one morning or afternoon per week, for a minimum of three months. Anyone who might be interested in volunteering is invited to e-mail or telephone Rachel Metz at (Rachel.Metz@noaa.gov or 508-495-2098).
The WHSA is open to the public five days a week, year round. The aquarium collection includes approximately 140 species of marine animals. The seal habitat is currently being renovated and the aquarium staff expects to have seals in residence in 2008. WHSA volunteers may help care for stranded sea turtles that are rehabilitated over the winter and released in the summer.
NOAA Fisheries Service is dedicated to protecting and preserving our nation’s living marine resources and their habitat through scientific research, management and enforcement. NOAA Fisheries Service provides effective stewardship of these resources for the benefit of the nation, supporting coastal communities that depend upon them, and helping to provide safe and healthy seafood to consumers and recreational opportunities for the American public.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the U.S. Commerce Department, is celebrating 200 years of science and service to the nation. From the establishment of the Survey of the Coast in 1807 by Thomas Jefferson to the formation of the Weather Bureau and the Commission of Fish and Fisheries in the 1870s, much of America's scientific heritage is rooted in NOAA.
NOAA is dedicated to enhancing economic security and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and climate-related events and information service delivery for transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our nation's coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet it observes, predicts and protects.
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On the Web:
Woods Hole Science Aquarium: http://aquarium.nefsc.noaa.gov/
NOAA: http://www.noaa.gov
NOAA Fisheries Service: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov