Gordy!

Hello again,

So today was my first day to actually volunteer with TMMSN! Today I worked a four hour observation shift. TMMSN has one dolphin named Gordy right now. They rescued him a couple of months ago. When they found him he was covered in dolphin bites but he is recooperating well now. It was so neat to watch him. He would twirl around and play with the toys in the pool. He would come up to the surface and blow water out his blow hole. You could also hear him whistle. I got to watch one of the volunteers feed him. He got so excited when she brought his food out. I wish I could put a picture of him on my blog but TMMSN wont allow it. But you can click on this link to see pictures of him.

http://www.tmmsn.org/news/po464.htm

Every time a dolphin is rescued and brought to the facility they have to be watched 24/7. So the we volunteers take shifts to watch him. Each shift is four hours long. A TMMSN day starts at Midnight and that shift lasts until four in the morning. Then the next shift is from 4AM to 8AM. Then from 8AM till Noon and so on and so on. Today I worked the 8AM to Noon shift.

So basically I showed up at 8AM and sat in the observation deck, which is a tiny (only big enough for two lawn chairs!) little deck up high off the ground so you can see into the pool. The pool is really huge! You can see pictures of the pool and the facility if you click on the link I posted above.

Since it was my first observation shift I had to sit with an experienced volunteer. I sat with Rod. Rod was a pretty cool guy. He's a bit older but still rough and tough. He had a long ponytale and a couple of tatoos. He was super interesting to talk to. After showing me the ropes around the facility and how to sign in etc. we started to watch Gordy. Sitting there for four hours can get a little dull so we struck up conversation. Rod's past time is scuba diving. He has been all over the world to scuba. He's been to Cozumel, Aruba, Yucatan, Australia, and the Galapagos Islands! He's swam with wild dolphins, manatees, sea lions, and hammer head sharks!
He grew up in Boston. He had a really thick Boston accent. As a kid he worked on a dude ranch. Now besides volunteering with TMMSN he works as a photographer. He's a photographer for Moody Gardens.

Well, that's all I can remember for now. If I think of anything else cool or interesting I'll write more later.

Until next time,
Juliana.