Fjord&Bælt is a marine education center which opened in 1997, created to combine research, public exhibition, aquariums and education on marine issues.
The Research/Animal department consists of 3 harbour porpoises and 5 harbour seals and a small international team of trainers and interns. The harbour porpoises and seals (held in outdoor, netted pools in the Kerteminde harbour) are trained for voluntary husbandry behaviors, research training and public presentations.
The harbour porpoises are the main focus of the research and are one of the main attractions. The harbour porpoise research aims to enhance knowledge of sensory systems and behaviour and to investigate methods of reducing bycatch. By having the porpoises at Fjord&Bælt we are also able to create awareness and educate the public about the harbour porpoise’s plight in the wild. International research co-operation is currently carried out with institutions from many different countries.
Interns will work directly with the Animal Training staff and are exposed to all aspects of the daily care and training of our harbour seals and porpoises. Duties will be mainly to participate in basic tasks such as food preparation, daily cleaning and facility maintenance. Interns shadow trainers and learn through observation about operant conditioning of marine mammals. Interns will also assist in training and learn a few basic behaviours with our animals as they gain experience.
We are always looking for interns, all year around. So send in your application as soon as possible. Fjord&Bælt does not have the opportunity to provide housing for our interns but there is a lot of rooms to rent in Kerteminde.
How far you will reach depends on the time of your internship. We do have a minimum of committing to 3 months but you have the opportunity to stay for as long as 12 months.