Since 2005, Nausicaa has been participating in the CORALZOO  programme, which brings together several aquariums and European research centres on an ambitious project to improve coral farming techniques in aquariums... 

The CORALZOO programme

The aim of the programme is to enable as many zoos and marine parks as possible to display live corals in their aquariums, but without having to take coral from the wild, where corals are in real danger. Since 1998 and the opening of its Tropical Lagoon Village and giant aquariums, Nausicaa has been one of the largest coral farmers in Europe. This enables the Centre to create increasingly striking and realistic live displays, as well as exchange living creatures with a large number of aquariums around the world.

On the November 14^th 2008, Nausicaa was awarded 1^st prize for sea lion medical training at the annual IMATA (International Marine Animal Trainers Association) conference which was held in CANCUN in Mexico. This Award was in recognition of Nausicaa’s training work with these marine mammals and, in particular, for its intubation and endoscopy training with California sea lions. Voluntary intubation is a world first and avoids the need to anaesthetise the animals. This success is the product of trust building work between carer and sea lion over a number of years.

IMATA rewards Nausicaa

Nausicaa was represented at the 36^th annual International Marine Animal Trainers Association (IMATA) conference by William GOURNAY, Nausicaa’s sea lion team trainer.

This conference brings together directors, veterinary surgeons, scientists, sea park trainers, aquariums, zoos and research laboratories from all around the world which are involved in public outreach activities or research on marine mammals (killer whales, dolphins, belugas, sea lions, manatees, seals and otters). Over 8 days in Cancun, Mexico, they presented their activities, shared notes and put in place new joint projects.

As each year, IMATA rewards the most innovative work presented at the conference in a symbolic and purposeful way. This time it was the turn of Nausicaa’s entire sea lion team and their supervising veterinary surgeon, Géraldine LACAVE, for their contribution to the medical supervision of marine animals. 

Over fifty presentations were made at the conference. They focused on technical work on the training of dolphins, belugas and sea lions; on the rehabilitation and release of sick animals; on new treatments and surgical techniques; on the monitoring of births and newborn animals and on improving living conditions for animals. There were more than 500 delegates from all over the world, from North America, South America, Europe and Asia.

Voluntary intubation and endoscopy

The sea lions have been at Nausicaa now for 10 years and have been trained to work with carers to facilitate their medical care.

Intubation and endoscopy are medical procedures which can be used to rehydrate a sick animal, or to look into the stomach to see if a foreign object has been ingested, for example. For an untrained animal a procedure requiring the insertion of a tube into the stomach via the mouth would require a general anaesthesia, which can pose a risk to the animal. At Nausicaa it was therefore decided to opt for voluntary training to prepare the animals in case such a procedure should be necessary. It required great patience but the sea lions did learn to cooperate and allow a tube to be inserted. Such an achievement, which requires perfect command of the procedure and total cooperation from the sea lion, was only possible after several years of work. Today, at Nausicaa we are able to insert, using a tube, a litre of water directly into the stomach of each of our sea lions.

At the end of October a voluntary endoscopy was carried out on two of Nausicaa’s sea lions, which allowed us to visualise the inside of their stomachs using a mini-camera on an endoscopic tube.

Nausicaa’s IMATA (International Marine Animal Trainers Association) presentation will enable a number of European, American and Asian institutions to introduce the same training for their own sea lions. 

In October 2008, with the help of a veterinary surgeon specialised in sharks, Nausicaa carried out a world first: surgery on one of Nausicaa’s sandbar sharks.  

A world first

First, the shark was anaesthetised to allow X-ray and ultrasound examinations. These examinations revealed the presence of a foreign object, probably metallic, in the shark’s abdomen. As a first step the shark was quarantined in an aquarium.

A few days later, the shark was again anaesthetised using clove oil, this time for surgery. But sharks must swim constantly in order to breathe. That is why, during surgery, a water-oxygen supply was used and fed into the shark’s mouth so that the animal could breath artificially. The surgeon then carefully removed the foreign object taking care not to cut any blood vessels or damage any internal organs. The foreign object turned out to be a large fish hook.

When the shark came around, it was still and passive. It was a worrying moment but after three hours of intensive care, it began to swim again and was quickly reunited with its companions.

Today, its wound has healed, and Nausicaa’s star guest is again feeding daily under the watchful gaze of visitors. In the wild this animal appears invulnerable. Yet, in contact with such human devices, it turns out also to be very fragile.

In a special programme shown from Nausicaa’s interactive TV platform “The Sea... Live”, Nausicaa tells this story to its visitors: how the shark carers noticed there was a bulge in the belly of this 20 year old and 2m long shark, and one of Nausicaa’s oldest guests, and then how, with the help of a veterinary surgeon specialised in sharks, the animal was anaesthetised and captured, taking great care not to injure it, or be bitten by it.

What does an animal carer do in an aquarium like Nausicaa?

Caring for animals involves a wide range of very diverse tasks. A professional animal carer must therefore have a wide range of different skills …and in this job there’s never a dull moment!

In fact, the carer’s job is to make sure conditions are optimal both for visitors and for the animals on display. They ensure that both the animals and visitors are looked after: that the animals get the best possible living conditions, and that visitors enjoy the best possible viewing conditions, as well as the most captivating details of the lives of the animals. 

To do all this, a carer must have a wide range of different skills, must be patient and determined, and above all, must love their job.

Feeding and caring for the animals

Training California sea lions

Maintenance and animal rearing

A typical day for carer at Nausicaa

A typical day begins at 7 am, and the task is to get the aquarium’s displays ready before the public opening at 9.30 am. Early meetings provide the opportunity to discuss latest developments and what needs to be done to prepare the displays. A schedule of work is prepared for the week, so that everyone knows what they have to do.

At 9.30, the team takes a working coffee break and the work for the rest of the day is planned. Typical tasks include: preparing feed and feeding the animals, animal presentations and displays, upkeep of the reserve areas, if necessary, providing medical attention to sick animals, (under the supervision of the aquarium’s veterinary surgeon), logging work done and of course monitoring the animals, which is a key task, but one for which there is often little time.

While we do have fixed working hours it is sometimes necessary to spend additional time with the animals, taking care of them or repairing a faulty aquarium system. The animals take priority because they are the heart of the aquarium. They are why the people come to Nausicaa.