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Internship Feedback on my 5-Month Journey with SASC 

One of the best things about SASC is the hands-on experience that you gain from the internship programme. I learned many scientific skills when it came to understanding the concept of research and the technical aspects of the job. The excellent mentorship with regard to project directions and research ideas made it perfect for a student like me who needed to complete projects. It helped me get a deeper understanding of shark science. From fishing trips, snorkelling, boat fishing, beach fishing, tagging and workshops; there are many activities that aided me in completing my reports.

Workshops

The workshops I attended go through the scientific method, different methods used for shark research, understanding of statistics and the basics that I will use to further my career. I learnt a lot of valuable information and techniques that will not only help with shark science but many different aspects of marine science.

For my projects, I had to learn many new skills but there is one that stood out. For my technical project, I had to create graphs using R Studio. That required me to learn a new coding language but luckily SASC offers great mentorship. R Studio was a challenge that I could easily overcome and is an invaluable skill to have for the future.

Internship Feedback on Field Trips

The two greatest field days that I experienced at SASC were the boat fishing trip and beach fishing. The boat fishing trip was exciting as I had never been on a boat before to catch sharks. The possibility of catching a large shark was very exciting and I couldn’t wait to take part in this activity. After a quick safety brief, we set off. After some time with a few catsharks, a large shark took the bait and was caught. I decided to take control of the measuring sheet and hand out the equipment with the more experienced staff leading the landing of the shark. To the utmost excitement, a cow shark was caught. It is one of my favourite sharks and it was magnificent. Watching the process of working with such a large shark was a great learning opportunity and amazing to see this 2m-long shark from just under a metre away.

The second day was when we went beach fishing at Die Dam and what a day that was. A baby Short-tail stingray was caught and it was so beautiful and tiny. That was just the beginning of the day. Once we moved slightly further down the beach, many baby smooth-hound sharks were caught. They were so tiny and each team member was able to tag a shark. This was an amazing fishing location as it could mean it had the potential to be a nursery for these smooth-hounds and perhaps even for the short-tail stingray. There are many other adventures I experienced but these two were the highlights of my stay.

To Sum it Up

SASC offers an excellent opportunity to meet many different individuals with great networking opportunities and to meet lifelong friends. Many activities that I experienced were Friday braais, game nights, the weekly Saturday market, movie nights and cooking nights.

The 5-month stay is one which I will never forget and it was a great decision for me. The strong mentorship and the skills I learnt aided me in having the highest marks in my class for these projects. Thank you everyone at SASC for an amazing experience and for making me feel at home during my stay

Lab Talks Intern FeedbackBeach Field TripsDinner with Interns and VolunteersBoat Trips Internship FeedbackIntern Excursions