Marine Mammal Intern

Hi all, Sjoerd here from the Netherlands!
My experience at Archipelagos was eye opening, and perhaps even life changing. Let me tell you more about it :).

I did an internship for a period of 3 consecutive months, from the 21st of August till the 10th of November. A perfect time span I would say. I vividly remember arriving on the island and wondering what I just got myself into. I was pretty worried I have to admit, this was my first experience travelling alone, and it's quite a big step. Luckily tho this feeling got replaced quickly. I arrived at the base, introduced myself to some people, and immediately got in a nice conversation. This gave me a feeling of comfort, and this feeling stayed with me for the rest of the internship.

Samos itself is a gorgeous island that's surrounded by the lively Aegean Sea. The island has a lot of hiking trails, cute towns, good food, and amazing people. Usually during the weekends we would rent a car or cycle, and explore the island. During the summer you will be amazed with all the wild fruits like peaches and figs growing everywhere. They are delicious

Moreover, I love the fact that there are so many experiences to gain, and opportunities to take. Experiences you cannot academically gain. Whether this a terrestrial survey at night, looking for chameleons. Or an overnight boat survey, looking for the Aegean's mysterious creatures of the depth. And so much more.

Opportunity wise, there are a lot of options. Personally, I chose the path of starting my own project. With guidance of Beatriz (one of the sweet supervisors) I started up a project regarding the exploration of cetacean behaviour with innovative technology. I wrote a short article for the website regarding this, if you are interested feel free to read more on it! If I am lucky, I can even pursue this project next summer! If everything goes according to plan, it could potentially open a lot of doors towards the marine biology sector for me.
'' https://archipelago.gr/en/hands-on-projects-with-the-marine- mammal-research-amp-conservation-team/ ''

Also, I gained experience in computer related skills, whether this is processing boat survey data, mapping in Qgis, or the usage of SQLiteStudio.

On the other hand. I am sure you read more reviews, also some that are slightly less positive or perhaps even negative. And yes, there are imperfections. The food is not always the best for example, but with some slight adaptations and some creativity you can make something decent. On the other hand, because of this we often went to the bakery close-by, and got a nice ice cream as a lunch-dessert. Not the worst I can tell you :) Also, the cook is the sweetest person, she likes to have a chat with you, and is open-minded when it comes to ideas for the food she makes.

Further the base does have it's flaws, but nothing that was genuinely upsetting me. Maybe for some people it is, but you have to remember that we are on a relatively 'primitive' island, compared to our western homes that are supplied with all the luxury. I think it is actually good, for especially a Western person to spend time on Samos. Relatively quickly you notice that everything moves slower, and people actually take their time for something. I think that it is a healthier lifestyle.

As you can see, I am very grateful for this internship, and there was nothing else that I would have rather done this summer. I was fortunate enough to meet people that I can now safely call family. The internship on itself is great, but the people truly make it something to never forget. And as long as you are open-minded, you will also have this experience.

Small disclaimer tho: saying goodbye to these people is really hard, I bawled for hours, but what can I say. I'm emotional.

If by now you made the decision to go Archipelagos, I want to say, goodluck, experience as much as you can, and make the absolute most out of it. You don't get a lot of experiences like this in your lifetime.

Yasasss