Immersed in marine animal care
A.J. Amaio ’26 feeds sharks and rescues animals during summer internship
For Wheaton College rising junior A.J. Amaio, his internship experience was more hands-on than most this summer at Save The Bay’s Hamilton Family Aquarium. As an intern aquarist, on any given day he fed sharks, rehabilitated injured fish and transported animals from Narragansett Bay to the aquarium in Newport, R.I.
“It was a lot of general upkeep, maintenance and making sure the fish are healthy,” said Amaio, a biology major from Portsmouth, R.I. “My work helped ensure the aquarium can function as an educational tool for the public.”
Save The Bay is a 100% member-supported nonprofit with a mission to “protect and improve Narragansett Bay,” according to the organization’s website. Its goal is to eventually have the bay be “fully fishable, swimmable and accessible to all.”
Every animal at the aquarium is native to Narragansett Bay, although they sometimes take in orphaned tropical fish that wouldn’t survive the winter on their own.
The aquarium boasts dogfish sharks, chain catsharks, barndoor skate and a snapping turtle named Bowser, among other animals. The aquarium also has an extremely rare orange lobster, which has an odds of being caught at one in 30 million, according to marine experts.
Amaio said he plans to attend graduate school after Wheaton and wants to pursue a career in marine biology with a focus on whales. He would ideally like to work on conserving and rehabilitating them.
“Whales are really fascinating,” he said. “We see mammals all around us; we live with dogs and cats, rabbits and squirrels, but if you look in the ocean, you have this massive mammal that is adapting and thriving.”
Two years into his college journey, Amaio commended Wheaton for preparing him academically and for molding him into a more mature version of himself.
“I’ve learned a lot of general scientific knowledge throughout my classes, but Wheaton has also set me up on the professional side as a functioning employee and adult,” he said. “A lot of the things I’ve done at Wheaton—living alone, being more accountable and taking charge of myself, being at college, having the support system that Wheaton provides—it all set me up for this.”
–By Scott Enman ’15