Lil­ly – Inter­pre­tive Officer

How did you come to this job?

I had been man­ag­ing hol­i­day accom­mo­da­tion on Kan­ga­roo Island for about 2 years and was look­ing for a change. Some friends encour­aged me to apply for a posi­tion work­ing in nation­al parks, so I applied for a job in 2007. I have been at Seal Bay ever since.

What do you most like about your work?

Each day I get to take vis­i­tors on a tru­ly unique and amaz­ing expe­ri­ence – I get to guide them through an Aus­tralian sea lion colony! Almost every day some­one tells me that I have an incred­i­ble job. That is pret­ty special.

We have an amaz­ing team of ded­i­cat­ed, pas­sion­ate and knowl­edge­able peo­ple at Seal Bay, Work­ing with them is also some­thing I like most!

What’s the most amaz­ing thing you’ve seen at work?

Once I saw a sea lion giv­ing birth. My office is the wild south­ern coast­line of Kan­ga­roo Island. Some­times it feels more like a priv­i­lege than work.

What fas­ci­nates you about the Aus­tralian sea lion?

The Aus­tralian sea lion is a species dif­fer­ent from all oth­ers – the way they for­age, their ges­ta­tion cycle and their site fideli­ty. It fas­ci­nates me to watch a crea­ture that we are still learn­ing so much about. Because they are an endan­gered species, I want to learn more about what we can do to pro­tect their habi­tat and population.

What’s your favourite thing to do in your own time?

I love to hang out on one of the many beau­ti­ful beach­es we have on Kan­ga­roo Island. I spend hours swim­ming and play­ing in the sand dur­ing the warmer months, watch­ing my part­ner surf, and look­ing for beach trea­sures with my children.