Is a marine mammal trainer the same thing as a marine biologist?
A. We often hear people say, “I want to be a marine biologist and train dolphins”. While it is true that some marine biologists do train dolphins and many trainers have degrees in biology, the two job descriptions are really quite different. Many folks mistakenly lump marine mammal trainers, marine biologists and oceanographers into one homogenous group. Oceanographers primarily study the physical nature of the world’s oceans, for example, their chemical, geological, and atmospheric aspects. A marine biologist is generally someone who studies life in the seas and oceans. They may specialize in such areas as anatomy, physiology, behavior or ecology. The subjects of their investigations may range from microscopic single celled organisms to 150 ton blue whales. Proportionately very few of these scientists work hands on with or train living marine mammal species. A good marine mammal trainer may study and utilize knowledge from all of these fields (and more), but each of these careers are
