Sea Life 

Melbourne Aquarium

Careers in the Melbourne Aquarium

On Wednesday, 10th March, Mr. Valentino’s Community Jobs class and Ms Neri’s Exploring Environments class, participated in the Sea Life Melbourne Aquarium’s Marine Careers excursion. The guided tour focused on a range of careers involved in the aquarium and gave a many Year 9 students some inspiration for volunteer opportunities and work experience in the years to come. The start of the day ran quite smoothly with a prompt departure from the school and a walk to Epping Station. The train ride to the city was a decent length but it provided us with a great opportunity to sit back, talk with one another and play some Uno on the way there.

When we reached the aquarium, we were greeted by Oliva, who worked as the Sea Life Aquarium’s Education Manager. She brought us to a large room with a glass enclosure, which turned out to be the aquarium’s penguin section. With penguins swimming and eating in the background, Olivia began to tell us about her role in providing educational experiences to school groups and her career progression within the company. Just within this one area of the aquarium, Olivia began to point out all the different careers that were involved in its creation and maintenance. These included the teachers and tour guides within the Education team, the animal handlers who would feed and weigh the penguins and the staff who would clean the enclosure and replace the dirty snow. Before leaving this section, we were lucky enough to see the aquarium’s newest baby king penguin as it was being fed, which Olivia assured us was a rarity for visitors. 

As we continued through the tour, we saw all kinds of marine life, including different fish, sharks, octopuses, frogs and even a large saltwater crocodile. In each of these areas, Olivia pointed out even more careers and departments involved in the aquarium’s operation. There were the architects who designed the enclosures within the aquarium, the graphic designers who created artwork and a decorative environment for the aquarium, the marketing team which promoted new events at the aquarium and also the scientists and researchers who are constantly discovering new things about the marine life within the aquarium. 

The tour was a great experience and gave us a greater idea of the kinds of jobs within an environment like the aquarium and that it’s not just the people who feed the creatures. We had a fun time and saw some brilliant things for the first time in our lives!

Donald Sivi 9F and Samuel Yiangou 9F