An intreview with a dolphin trainer (scamper writing)

Tommy Lai has one of the best jobs in the world -- or at least he thinks so! He's a dolphin trainer at Ocean Park. Find out more about Tommy and his fascinating job in the interview below.

How did you become a dolphin trainer?
I saw an advertisement in the newspaper. I thought it sounded like and usual and easy job so I applied. That was nearly five years ago.

What qualifications fo you need to become a dolphin trainer?
Most of the trainers have s degree -- I have a Bachelor of Science in Biology. In the past, most of the trainers studied overseas. However, these days there are more graduates from local unversities than from overseas universities. But, I myself graduates from a secondnary school!

What does a dolphin trainer actually do?
Well, one obvious answer is train dolphins. However, we spend less time doing this than people think. Our main responsibility is to look after the dolphins -- to make sure that they are happy and healthy. For example, the first thing I do every morning is to check their temperature and their weight, if they are too heavy, then I won't feed them too much. I also spend a lot of time feeding the dolphins, playing with them and cleaning the tanks. Dolphins are very playful. This is a picture of me stroking and playing with my favourite dolphin, Carrie.

How do you train a dolphin?
One of the first tricks we teach the dolphins is to touch a stick with their noses. That is the training stick over there. It's about half a metre long. You can see one in this shaking hands, touching the trainer's hands, singing and dancing. It takes a lot of time to learn tricks so the younger dolphins generally know fewer tricks then the older ones.

Would you recommend this job to other people?
Yes, definitely. It's easy work and very rewarding.