Woods Hole Science Aquarium

Field Trip to New Bedford

Hey guys! My name is Elisha Garcia, most call me Eli. I’m a two week intern at WHSA.

So far it has been great. From orientation, animal training at the Buttonwood Park Zoo, to today which was the tour of the New Bedford Port Agent’s office lead by Katie Almeida.

Fresh off the boat in New Bedford

She gave us a detailed tour and explained in great depth what makes the Port tick. She also explained how it is such a crucial yet obvious part of the process for obtaining much of our seafood.

Cold and stinky, but educational!

Half of the building we toured was a huge freezer for fish and shellfish, so we all had to wear some sort of hat and a sweatshirt. Drew, another two week intern decided to make everyone else jealous by wearing an extremely warm beanie.

We tested out the sleeping quarters of a replica whaling ship at the New Bedford Whaling Museum

After our tour of the Port, Katie took us to the old fish auction site in what seemed to be just an old parking lot by the sea. When I learned how important that old parking lot was to the fishing industry, I was blown away. It can easily be compared to the stock exchange at Wall Street in New York. From there we made our way down to the New Bedford Whaling Museum, where we had a guided tour waiting for us. We caught a glimpse of how important the whaling industry was to the port of New Bedford and other places like it from a short movie before hand. From there we learned about the men who sought whales for years on end along with their equipment and how they lived on the ship. After our long day of walking and absorbing so much information, we returned back to our home base at the aquarium. Eli