Job shadowing exposes high school children to workplaces, and helps them to decide which career path they would like to follow.

The Two Oceans Aquarium offers job-shadowing experiences, for high schoolers interested in marine animals and how an aquarium operates behind the scenes. Our job shadowers get to see the daily workings of our aquarists: how to look after stranded turtles, the cutting up of fish for our animals as well as the cultivation of zoo plankton, among many other things.

Young Biologists getting hands-on training

We do not offer community service, as this would involve hands-on tasks. Due to the nature of our business and the sensitivity of the animals involved, we only allow trained staff and volunteers to handle them.

If you would like to become a volunteer and are in Grade 10, you’re in luck: our next Young Biologist course is coming up in October. Read more here.

Mid-year seems to be the time when requests for job shadowing come flooding in, so below you will find some easy guidelines on how to apply for this opportunity at the Two Oceans Aquarium:

1. You need to be in Grade 10, 11 or 12 in order to job shadow with us.
2. Your job-shadowing days need to fall within a school term, as we do not offer job shadowing on weekends or during school holidays.
3. We only offer TWO consecutive days for each job shadower, and a maximum of two shadowers per week.
4. We need two documents from you: a motivational letter from you on why you would like to job-shadow with us specifically, and another official letter from your school to say that you need to job-shadow with us.

Please note that our job-shadowing programme is completely booked until 15 August. The earliest available date is now 18 August, and this changes on a daily basis. So, in order to avoid disappointment, please make sure to book early.

Once all of the above points apply to you, please visit our website and apply online here. 

We hope to see you at the Two Oceans Aquarium soon!