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Rehabilitation / Husbandry
Currently we have approximately 40 juvenile to adult sea turtles under our care, both at our floating sea turtle hospital and at our partner resorts. Interns will be asked to aid in the daily husbandry of sea turtles, including feeding, cleaning, hospital upkeep, and overall care for the turtles. Furthermore, interns will also assist our staff in administering medical treatments to our injured sea turtle patients. Interns will be trained by knowledgeable staff in sea turtle rehabilitation and husbandry. They will have the opportunity to work with three species of sea turtles: Hawksbill, Green, and Olive Ridley, with the possibility of working with each species in different life stages. It is important for all interns to be knowledgeable and have a first hand account of the human imposed threats that sea turtles face, and what better way than aiding sea turtles in their recovery!
Requirements: Interest in wildlife rehabilitation; ability to swim; comfortable on the water; reliable and adroit worker
Preferences: Past experience in wildlife rehabilitation; studying animal science; pre-vet; marine biology; conservation; environmental science or related fields
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Research / Aquaculture
Our sea turtle hospital is literally floating on the ocean water, in a Chinese floating fishermen village, where the main source of income is the aquaculture of fish, crustaceans and shellfish. Our sea turtle hospital is set up similar to that of aquaculture fish farms that surround us, with sea water free flowing through netted enclosures. This setup is very different than aquariums or other sea turtle rehab centers that house their turtles in indoor tanks with a complex filtration system to mimic the marine environment. We rely on the natural tidal cycle to circulate fresh sea water for our sea turtles; thus, there are many research opportunities that interns can investigate into about sea turtle growth and maintenance in this unique oceanic setup.
Since our hospital is set up similar to fish farms, many aquaculture techniques are used to provide the most suitable habitat for the turtles under our care. For example, we raise several species of fish that aid in the cleaning of our sea turtles in order to replicate the natural environment as close as possible. Many species of sea turtles have a symbiotic relationship with fish; in the wild, fish clean the algae and other epibiota that grow on the turtles. Interns would utilize their knowledge of aquaculture to raise fish, on a small scale, and maintain the sea turtles' habitat. Additionally, interns could utilize their skills and knowledge to introduce new or “Western” techniques to help fishing families with their aquaculture. This will better our relationship with the local community and make it easier to spread our message of sea turtle conservation.
Requirements: An intern must be self-motivating, willing to research and consult with experts in the field, and then apply the knowledge and techniques learned toward projects that benefit sea turtles, the community, or marine conservation in general.
Preferences: Student of or experience in marine biology, aquaculture, fisheries science, ichthyology, captive breeding, marine toxicology or related field; proficient knowledge of marine aquaculture techniques
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Ecotourism
We have established partnerships with three hotel resorts. They house our turtles while providing us with a podium for our message of sea turtle conservation to the public. An intern working in this area would help develop education programs and events at each resort location, while improving our public relations. Depending on the resort, this could include making sea turtle conservation presentations, marketing ecotourism packages, and coordinating sea turtle kids camps. We encourage interns to advance the partnership with new ideas of ecotourism.
Requirements: An intern must be an adept public speaker and/or writer; have experience in environmental education; and have an interest in ecotourism
Preferences: Past experience in project/program development; studying environmental science, conservation, tourism, journalism, public relations, or hotel management
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Education / Public Awareness Campaign
This is a broad topic and covers many facets of interest. Our ultimate goal is to change the perception of sea turtles from an animal to be made into a product to a valuable living creature worthy of conserving! Thus, we are working to gain public attention through education to show people the compassion we have for these magnificent creatures. We do this through many methods, from bombarding tourist traps with sea turtle brochures to standing on a crowded street in a sea turtle costume. By using sea turtles as a flagship species we hope to spread marine conservation throughout China. Marketing the image of a sea turtle can be useful to advancing conservation awareness. This could be achieved by getting a corporation to adopt a sea turtle as their logo, or having a Chinese celebrity promote sea turtle conservation in China. Interns would research and locate potential ways to spread the conservation message. Interns would have the opportunity to develop their own method for public education. This could be anything from speaking at local universities to garner chinese student body support, teaching English with a focus on marine conservation to fishermen families, writing a children’s book about sea turtles, fabricating children’s sea turtle games, to creating promotional brochures or videos.
Requirements: Imagination and enthusiasm to save sea turtles
Preferences: Studying a field in education and/or teaching, photography, videography, artist, graphic designer, writer, or strong public speaker
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Online Marketing & Sales
Our sponsor company Yeh! for Games, Inc., a World of Warcraft® leveling service company, offers a combined internship with Sea Turtles 911. As part of the company's concern for environmental conservation, Yeh for Games has pledged to donate 15% of every sale to Sea Turtles 911. Yeh for Games will also provide staff members to conduct intern training in online marketing. Interns will learn and gain valuable experience in SEO (Search Engine Optimization), PPC (Pay Per Click), email marketing campaigns, and targeted web banner ads.
The marketing interns will assist sales & marketing staff with a number of projects to support the company’s marketing needs. These tasks will include:
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Identify, research, and collect contact and demographic information of the gaming industry to whom the company wants to market their services.
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Research and review marketing strategies and make recommendations.
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Design web banner ads or other promotional products for marketing purposes.
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Work collaboratively with Sales & Marketing staff to accomplish work that would be available to the intern based on his or her skills, knowledge, and proficiencies.
Marketing interns may also be expected to manage social networking sites for both Sea Turtles 911 and Yeh for Games. By using Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and Youtube we are able to advance online marketing and public awareness of sea turtle conservation. Marketing interns will then apply the same techniques used in online marketing with Yeh for Games, to aid in the marketing of our gift shop products to combat the illegal harvesting of Hawksbill sea turtles. The Hawksbill sea turtle is one of the world’s most critically endangered species, it is estimated that Hawksbills will become extinct within the next 10 years; this is largely due to the growing demand for tortoise shell products. To help stop this demand and to fund our conservation mission, we are marketing sea turtle inspired jewelry to replace the demand for jewelry made from sea turtles. Interns would work on the local and global marketing of sea turtle jewelry and sea turtle stuffed animals, while promoting the message for sea turtle conservation.
Requirements: Passion for sea turtles and World of Warcraft®; quick learner, technology and computer savvy; some past experience in customer service and sales or marketing
