California Wildlife Center is excited to announce two internship opportunities for the Winter 2022/3 and Spring 2023!  California Wildlife Center is in Calabasas, California, and responds to reports of stranded marine mammals 365 days a year along the Malibu Coastline.  Our pinniped rehabilitation facility is active during the region’s period of highest strandings, which is January through July.   

Winter Session = five weeks – Mid December through late January (flexible start date) 

Spring Session = three months / twelve weeks – Early March through the end of May 

 

Time Commitment:            30-35 hours per week  

Vaccination Requirement: 

To be considered, applicants must be fully vaccinated against Covid-19.  

Summary/Program Description
The California Wildlife Center is a non-profit organization dedicated to the rescue, rehabilitation, and release of injured, orphaned, and sick native wildlife.  CWC fulfills this mission through marine mammal rescue and rehabilitation, and treatment of avian and terrestrial wildlife in our rehabilitation hospital.   This internship will provide an exciting and challenging enriching experience in the field of marine mammal rehabilitation.  The winter session focusses on rescue of California sea lion pups and the spring session focusses on the in-house treatment of Northern Elephant Seal pups. 

Intern Responsibilities 

Under supervision of Marine Mammal staff, experiences will include:  

• Assessing stranded marine mammals on the beach 
• Assist or lead responder teams in the capture and handling of stranded marine mammals requiring rescue 
• Provide appropriate transport conditions for stranded marine mammals to the rehabilitation facility 
• Maintain detailed records of daily activity reports of stranding, human interaction, and patient health status  
• Perform daily husbandry tasks for pinniped patients admitted to the rehabilitation facility 
• Work closely with Marine Mammal department staff to provide patient-specific rehabilitative care 
• Adhere to all safety guidelines set forth by California Wildlife Center and the Marine Mammal Department 
• Participate in releases of healthy marine mammal patients back to their Pacific Ocean home 
• Maintain good rapport with representatives of various public agencies, as well as members of the public 
• Learn to identify native species of Marine Mammals / Marine Birds and explore their life history  
• Assist with marine mammal necropsy and sample collection 
  
   
  
  Please visit our website for more information and to apply: http://cawildlife.org/volunteer/internshipsexternshipspreceptorships/ 
  
  
   

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