Senior Beluga Whale Care & Training Specialist

About the role

The Beluga Whale Sanctuary in Iceland, run by the SEA LIFE Trust, is looking for a Senior Animal Care Specialist to care for its two resident beluga whales, Little White and Little Grey. The role covers daily animal care, enrichment and training, habitat maintenance and mentoring of other Animal Care Specialists. It is full-time, with a regular share of weekends and bank holidays, an emergency call-out rota and on-call duty for life support system support.

Key responsibilities

• Daily animal care: diet preparation and administration, nutritional planning, medicine administration, behavioural observations, enrichment, training and detailed record keeping.
• Lead the design, construction, implementation and evaluation of enrichment programmes and contribute to short- and long-term behavioural management plans.
• Maintain habitat conditions through water quality management, life support system monitoring and maintenance, and facility cleaning and sanitation.
• Plan and prepare transport, carry out audit action planning and support continuous improvement of animal care.
• Mentor Animal Care Specialists in diving, boat handling, operant conditioning and advanced husbandry; create and implement training plans.

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Marine Biology, Zoology, Animal Science or a related field.
• Significant professional experience in marine mammal care, preferably with cetaceans.
• Experience developing behavioural management plans and advanced husbandry training, administering medication, keeping accurate records and monitoring animal health.
• Experience mentoring, coaching and developing animal care staff.
• Confident SCUBA diver able to clean and maintain indoor and outdoor habitats, and confident boat operator, including at night and in bad weather, with experience launching, recovering and trailing vessels.
• Strong organisational skills managing inventories of diets, medications and supplies; calm under pressure.
• CPR and First Aid certification (or willingness to obtain).
• Flexibility for weekends, holidays, evenings and on-call duties.

What we offer

• Salary range of ISK kr600,000 per month.
• Help with visa costs and a relocation package.
• Merlin Magic Pass: free annual tickets to attractions worldwide for you, your family and friends.
• Enjoy the Ride Pass: annual Gold pass for you and 5 others.
• Discounted rates at Merlin hotels globally.