WCA Partner Conscious Breath Adventures – in its twelfth year taking guests to swim with humpback whales on the Silver Bank – seeks an adventurous intern to join the team aboard the M/V Sea Hunter in the Dominican Republic in 2020.
“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for the right person” says owner Captain Gene Flipse. Conscious Breath Adventures holds one of only three permits to offer this unique ecotour experience on the Silver Bank, part of the protected Sanctuary for Marine Mammals of the Dominican Republic. The Sanctuary is the safest and best regulated place to respectfully and responsibly swim with cetaceans in the world with less than 600 visitors each year. The Silver Bank is a shallow area about 70 miles off Hispaniola’s north coast that is a critical breeding, area for North Atlantic humpback whales, (Megaptera novaeangliae). Between 3,000-5,000 whales pass through the Sanctuary each winter between December – May and, in carefully managed operations, visitors are permitted to join the whales in the water in a soft-in-water encounter.
Gene says the right intern “will have a positive attitude and great people skills, be conversant in digital photography and electronic equipment, know a bit already about boats and living aboard as crew and, most importantly, really love whales!”
Daily tasks will include providing technical assistance with photo, video, computer and other electronic equipment, including editing and archiving digital content. The intern will help lead guests through all aspects of the experience – from boarding boats to meeting whales in the water and participate in Conscious Breath Adventures’ ongoing education and research efforts. “On the Silver Bank we are surrounded by whales, 24/7. We can see them breaching at breakfast, we spend our days with them on and in the water, and many days end with boat-side sightings during our daily sundowner on our mother ship. Our intern will be literally immersed in the world of whales for 5 weeks” explains Gene.
The position receives a small stipend along with a modest berth in crew quarters, with minimal privacy. The intern will learn how to interpret whale behaviour to provide a meaningful and respectful encounter, in addition to honing hospitality, photography and boating skills. Gene and his team have decades of experience working with cetaceans.
Prospective applicants can read the job description at https://www.consciousbreathadventures.com/blogs/intern-position-job-description/ and are asked to fully familiarise themselves with the operation before sending application materials.
