Welcome back! If you guys have not been following along on my internship, my name is Chloe Hehir. For the past three weeks, I have been an intern at USCB’s aquatic learning center, the REEF. The REEF houses animals such as eels, lobsters, sea stars, sharks, sea cucumbers, sea sails, sea urchins, and more. They use these to connect with Santa Barabra’s Maritime community through outreach programs with kids and educators. It is run primarily by undergrads, who take up the task of being aquarists, content coordinators, social media directors, and program coordinators. This week was my third and final week at the organization, and it was just as interesting as the first two!
Monday started with my daily bike ride to my internship. We did some basic necessities around the REEF before I went to lunch. Then, we set up the iPad to start the zoom for the upcoming college freshman. These rooms were actually one of my favorite parts of my whole experience. We walked through the entire basis of the REEF and gave fun facts about the animals, research projects, and daily life as a volunteer. Then, when I got off from work for the day I went down to the beach and went surfing. After that, and hanging out on the beach for a little while I went to grab some dinner from a local shop. It was yummy. Then I biked back to the house and hung out before going to bed. 
Tuesday morning was slightly different than all the other days so far. Lily Young, another pintern and Telluride local (as well as one of my best friends), just happened to be passing through Santa Barbara on a long road trip. She picked me up and we went out to breakfast together before I gave her a short tour of camps and the REEF. Then, when I started helping the undergraduates we found out that there was a flow problem in one of the tanks. Flow is just the input and drainage of water and is important for keeping oxygen in the tanks. We spent a while trying to figure out the problem and ended up having to move some fish out of the tanks. In the meantime, we were also preparing the food for the animals for the day. After chopping up anchovies, shucking mussels, and cutting squid, we distributed the food all around. Then, I went with an undergrad around campus and stretched on the grass for a bit. I got off of work a little bit early, and my host picked me up. She brought me to downtown Santa Barbara where there was a farmer’s market and shopping mall. I got some liquid nitrogen ice cream and it was really good! There was a fiesta going on and it was really cool to watch some of the dances! Then I came home and ate a really yummy dinner before cleaning up and going to bed. 
Wednesday after biking to work we had to siphon the tanks. This is to clean them out, and we always have to do it after a feeding day. The tropical tank was having a phosphate and sulfate issue, as well as a higher pH level so we were trying to figure that out. About halfway through the day, I got to go to the beach with one of the undergrads. We left the REEF and went to her house, before hopping in the car, grabbing lunch, and driving to a super cool beach. Her friends met us there, and we went to the ocean for a while. The waves were really pretty big, and super fun to play in! On the bike ride home I stopped at the grocery store and grabbed some food for dinner. Then I went to the house, made dinner, and watched a show before going to bed. 
Thursday is kind of an in-between day for the animals, so we only had to do water quality and census of the animals. Then, I went to a meeting with my mentor for an hour. After that, we went to fix the chiller in the white abalone tank. White abalone is reproductively extinct in the wild, but the REEF has a tank for them that has to be under strict moderation. Bacteria that can kill the abalone grows in water above 16 degrees and the chiller in one of the tanks was broken. So, we had to switch out the chillers with each other, therefore fixing the problem! After that, I went to eat lunch before the freshman orientation zoomed again. Then, once we did two of those I teamed up with an undergrad to make some videos for the REEF’s Instagram. Once I got off work I biked over to a restaurant that my host family was taking me out to for a happy hour. After that, we went home and started packing as well as watching a show before going to bed. 
Friday was my last day in California! I biked to work and we did some testing of the water in the tropical tanks, to see if the chemicals were evening out. Then, we fed the animals and cleaned up the REEF. Then, we did some filming for the social media team. After that, my mentor took me out for a thing called “Fast Friday ” where he takes out staff in his super cool fast car (a Camaro) for food. We brought back the food for the rest of the undergraduates and had lunch together. Finally, I went inside with an undergrad and worked on an email before saying goodbye. Before I left I wanted to go surfing one more time so I went down to the beach and went out in the waves. They were actually bigger than most other days and had a strong current but it was pretty fun! Then I went to grab some boba before going back to the house, making dinner, and packing up all my things.
Saturday morning I had to wake up at 3:30 in order to catch my flight. I am on the plane right now, heading home. This experience was amazing, and I learned so much. Everyone I met was super cool and nice, and I loved the new things I found out every day about all the aquatic animals. Thank you so much for this amazing experience, I loved it! Thanks for reading, and I hope you guys enjoyed it!
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