By Daisy Pinn
The Aquarium Development Internship at FSC Millport has inspired me to continue working in aquascape and tank design. During my stay in a beautiful historic house on the Scottish island, I was responsible for maintaining welfare of the animals in the aquarium and developing ways to enrich the displays. This included feeding starfish, rocklings and crabs – the variety of life was incredible. I was given a lot of creative freedom but also a lot of support from the staff at the centre. The staff would also occasionally involve me with teaching groups to observe and hand-collect food for the animals. One time I even went on a small research boat to collect marine organisms from a fishing trawl, onboard the friendly staff taught me all about surveying equipment. This led to a very diverse and interesting experience at Millport – no day was ever dull or the same. After an exhausting day at work, hot food would be served at the canteen with desert to compliment
I felt that during my placement that I had achieved the goals I had set myself coming in. For instance, I made mesh pipes in the Hermit Crab Colosseum tank for the crabs to climb and stay out of reach from competition. Everything that was introduced to the tanks was locally sourced from site, e.g. the old shipping anchor was sitting unused in a utility shed. This led me to be innovative with the wide range of materials available. All the seaweed and rocks were also hand collected from local beaches, this was a rewarding experience because after placing your décor in the tanks the animals would climb and hide within. These outings were also a beautiful way to explore the island and enjoy the local wildlife. Overall, I would say my placement at FSC Millport has been exciting and rewarding, I would recommend this placement for anyone interested in marine biology.
wildmillportfsc.wordpress.com 