Habitat interpreters share their enthusiasm and stories about Aquarium animals with our guests, answer questions and facilitate conversations to help people better understand the marine environment.
Initially, habitat interpreters spend most of their time at our Life on the Edge touch pools and giant Pacific octopus habitat. With additional training, interpreters may move throughout the habitat galleries and focus on other habitats, such as Pacific Coral Reef, Underwater Dome, Birds & Shores and Marine Mammals.
Don’t know much about marine animals and their habitats? You can still serve as a habitat interpreter! To prepare for time spent in our habitats, all Aquarium volunteers receive extensive training on the marine animals in our care and interpretive communication techniques. Volunteers are assigned to a team of eight to 15 volunteers and led by a staff marine science interpreter, who shares the important work of actively engaging our guests.
The minimum time commitment required for habitat interpreters is one four-hour shift every week for a minimum of six continuous months. Shifts begin at 9am, 11am and 2pm seven days a week. New volunteers must complete the full series of new volunteer training to begin.
Spring 2024 Orientation and Training
The spring training registration deadline is March 27, 2024. If you’re interested in joining us as a habitat interpretation volunteer, please register for the spring training series here:
If accepted, all habitat interpretation volunteers must complete the full training series. Volunteers who cannot complete the full series should wait for a future onboarding cycle. Another training series will begin in fall 2024.
All volunteers must attend a volunteer orientation. Our spring 2024 orientation video will be available to view online between March 21–31, 2024. We will share the video via email with anyone who registers for training.
Interviews will occur Friday, April 5, 2024, through Tuesday, April 9, 2024. Each prospective volunteer is required to complete a virtual interview via Zoom. Interviews are typically 20–30 minutes long. The interview sign-up form will be shared with those who have registered for the spring training series. Interview sign-ups will close on March 31, 2024.
Volunteer support and safety training: Tuesday, April 16, from 6–8pm via Zoom.
Life on the Edge habitat training will be held on select dates (see below), 9am–3pm. These trainings take place at the Seattle Aquarium in our classroom and habitat spaces. Volunteers only need to attend one Life on the Edge habitat training:
- Wednesday, April 24
- Saturday, April 27
- Thursday, May 2
- Saturday, May 4
- Sunday, May 12
Ready, Set, Swim training will be held on select dates (see below), 6–9pm. These trainings take place at the Seattle Aquarium in our classroom and habitat spaces. Volunteers only need to attend one Ready, Set, Swim training:
- Monday, May 20
- Wednesday, May 22
- Wednesday, May 29
Habitat interpretation volunteer shifts will begin the week of June 5.
