Taking the Penguin Plunge
Visitors to Connecticut’s Mystic Aquarium and Institute for Exploration can sign up for a unique experience: a one-hour “intimate encounter” with an African black-footed penguin. For $45 you can get up close and personal with one of the torpedo-shaped birds, petting its back and leathery wings, and checking out its heart and lungs with a stethoscope.

For Jennifer Odell, every day is an intimate encounter. Taking care of the aquarium’s 21 penguins, as well as its four harbor seals, five Steller sea lions, and nine northern fur seals, is her job. And it’s the job she’s always wanted.

Growing up near Long Island Sound, Odell visited Mystic Aquarium often, and dreamed of working there. After graduating with a biology degree, she signed on as a volunteer. Five years ago, while working at a nearby restaurant, her dream became reality—the aquarium hired her as an aquarist of marine mammals and birds. She now spends her day training animals, preparing their meals, monitoring the chemistry of their pools, and assisting with research projects. The work includes sliding 100-pound bins of fish around and carrying buckets weighing 30-40 pounds apiece.

A rewarding part of her job is participating in research on the endangered Steller sea lion. Males reach 2,500 pounds and a length of up to 11 feet. Worldwide, only 100,000 remain, and their numbers are declining. Scientists are investigating reasons for the decline and trying to determine how to restore the population. Only three aquariums in the United States have Steller sea lions, and Mystic is the only one with a breeding program.

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