Tampa Bay Watch came to visit Lakewood High School to showcase all sorts of interesting animals and fun facts about Tampa Bay on Oct. 17.
During the event, Lakewood students got to see a various array of animals, from sea cucumbers to horseshoe crabs, straight out of our waters. The students even got to touch one of the animals, all while learning more about the animals and Tampa Bay itself.
Leading the event was education coordinator Zoe Caraffi. She grew up in Fort Lauderdale and always had an interest in water ever since she was young, going on to get her bachelor’s in environmental science. After doing a multitude of internships, she later found a passion for talking and teaching, so she went on to get her master’s in environmental education and soon started work for the Tampa Bay Watch.
Caraffi described her day-to-day as an education coordinator being unsurprisingly, a lot of coordinating. She’s communicating with multiple schools at a time, scheduling times and dates for various experiences the Tampa Bay Watch offers. When she does get to work with the animals, she tends to work with a wide variety of them, her favorite to work with being the Lionfish. The reason behind it being that they “act like little dogs” during feeding time. She believes that people should look into identifying species of animals more, as it makes everyday life just a little more interesting when you can identify the specific animal you see in your natural environment.
Overall, the event was a great success and the reception from the students who participated was positive, some describing it as a unique and interesting experience.
