Thursday, July 18, 2013

Jax is Part of the Team!

Jax proudly struts with a glove from ES.
It takes a village to run Dolphin Research Center. We have so many people behind the scenes that help care for our animals and ensure that everyone, from dolphin to human, really enjoys their experience. A great example of these people is our Environmental Services (ES) Department. You’ll often see them around the facility, cleaning docks or securing fencing. You rarely see them interact with the dolphins, unless it’s a medical assist. However, the dolphins know just how important these guys’ roles at DRC are.

Recently, several members from ES did maintenance in the lagoon where A.J., Jax, Tanner, Rainbow, and Sandy reside. The dolphins went along their business as if the guys weren’t even in the water. Occasionally, they swam by to check on their human friends but never got in the middle of the job.

Since the dolphins live in a natural lagoon setting, it’s common for the tides to come in and flood back out. One of the members of ES noticed his glove had disappeared. It turns out that the glove floated all the way to the other side of the habitat, by the fence. He couldn’t just swim out to get it, so Jax came to the rescue!

A trainer threw ice cubes out and pointed at the glove in the water. As Jax happily swam over, he had a little trouble grabbing the item with his rostrum. He tried to balance it, hold it in his mouth, and carry it on his back. Slowly, he pushed it back to the dock as the ES team cheered him on. He was so excited he gave them a high five before they continued on with their work. Way to go Jax!