Marine mammals inspired me to seek a greener lifestyle. What inspires you?
I know that whale watching in a lot of my previous workplaces has stopped due to travel bans and lockdowns. No whale watching in Maui, the San Juan Islands, Kaikoura…and probably most places around the world. That is wild. This has never happened. And while the circumstances that led to this shutdown are extremely unfortunate, I can’t help but wonder…what are the marine mammals all over the world doing right now?? Nobody’s really watching them!
Read MoreThere is a crazy new adventure on the horizon! One of my best friends and flatmates, Fi, and I are heading up to Tonga to work with humpback whales for the austral winter. I’m so thankful that for the last four years, I’ve been able to spend at least one season with my favorite cetacean species. Humpbacks are such incredible, majestic creatures to encounter on the water. With their extra-long pectoral flippers, inquisitive eyes, and acrobatic nature, they never cease to delight guests on a whale watch (or make me scream).
Read MoreI can pinpoint the exact moment when I determined that some part of me, at some point in my life, needed to move to New Zealand. Not permanently, not even for a full year, but an actual move, not just travel. I was on an early morning walk through Queenstown, eager to wake up before my travel buddies so I could venture off for hot chocolate and wifi (I wasn't a coffee drinker yet, gasp), basking in the pure joy of being somewhere new and feeling like the whole world was opening up in front of me. I was 20, fresh out of a semester abroad at the University of Western Australia, road-tripping around the North and South Islands of New Zealand with some fellow Notre Dame study-abroaders before returning home for Christmas. We had two hilarious Wicked campervans, a steady supply of bread and peanut butter, a zest for adventure, and no set itinerary. It was delicious.
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