Working on a boat on the ocean with Naturaliste Charters, ahhh yes, we do have the best job in the world! But of course, we are only slightly biased. For a teenager going through school the pressure of deciding which career path to take can be overwhelming. Many schools in W.A. will encourage students to undertake work placements to get a practical understanding of the working environment! Here at Naturaliste we have the platform for these young teenagers to come in and experience what it is like to work on a premier tourism boat. From the crux of skippering through to the deckhand duties and even our onboard biologists varied roles. The students learn hands on skills while deciding whether this may be a future career path, or not.
Many of these students have only had a short working career for 1 or 2 years, some have not had a job yet…. imagine that! For those reading this – can you think back to your first few years of employment?!
We endured a couple of rained off days this past week so our work experience student Jacey came into the office to see what its like behind the scenes. Here is her take on our whale blogs:
Over the last week before school holidays, I have been lucky enough to experience many amazing tours with Naturaliste Charters for my week of work experience. I have always had an interest in the ocean and marine life, so it seemed perfect to experience the work of marine biologists right here in Dunsborough. It was even better than I had expected.
I have been on 6 tours so far, two each day from Monday to Wednesday but my experience for the rest of the week was unfortunately put on hold due to harsh winds. While the vessel can’t go out due to the winds, I’ve been spending time in the office behind the scenes. Friday afternoon seems to be calming down and I am hoping to get out on the boat for one last tour.
My favourite of the three days was Tuesday where we witnessed 3 incredible species of whales!! Not long after we headed out for the morning tour, a friendly dwarf minke whale hung around the boat for about 20 minutes. It was diving under the boat, poking its head out saying hi, and bobbing up and down in the water bringing smiles to everyone’s faces! After this amazing encounter we had a blue whale spotting further out at the point and headed straight out there. We were fortunate enough to have the second blue whale sighting in the season! The humpbacks also put on a show slapping their pecs and tails in the water, we even saw a few breaches. From the friendly staff onboard, I learnt that they do this to get all the dead skin cells, and barnacles off their bodies! Another highlight was the Wednesday afternoon tour where I was able to take some photos over the afternoon. The weather was amazing, by the afternoon the breeze had totally dropped off and the water was crystal clear. On this tour we spotted a sleepy turtle, and a playful seal that swam alongside the boat popping out of the water every now and again. It was such an amazing experience and I am so thankful to all the staff for having me.
To the next lucky person who gets to do their work experience here, take all advantage of this incredible opportunity and pick the brains of the staff onboard to learn as much as you can. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity. I really enjoyed this experience and it has helped me realise that marine biology is defiantly a possible career path for me.
Thank you,
Jacey
