CLEVELAND — Mallory Haskell knows exactly what she has to do when she gets to work.

What You Need To Know

  • Mallory Haskell said she's worked at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium for five years

  • She cares for their weedy seadragon hatchlings that are on display just in time for the 10th anniversary

  • She said only around 12 institutes have successfully been able to raise the hatchlings

“The first activity when I get in is to go through, check out all my animals that I'm in charge of, make sure everyone's looking OK and then I'm going to start their feeds,” Haskell said.

For the last five years, Haskell has worked as an aquarist at the Greater Cleveland Aquarium.

“My favorite moment has definitely involved our weedy seadragons. We had an egg transfer last Fall and have 24 hatchlings currently,” Haskell said.

Haskell said these hatchlings are a big deal, especially as the aquarium celebrates its 10th anniversary.

“These animals are pretty temperamental, even in the wild. There's only 12 institutes that have ever been able to successfully have these weedy seadragon hatchlings,” Haskell said.

Weedy seadragons aren’t the only animal that she’s passionate about. 

“I’ve always loved animals, and my parents definitely helped nurture that,” Haskell said. “So, just as I grew up, I continued to want that as my goal in life. [My goal] is to just make sure animals have a good quality of life any way I can give it to them and to educate other people about how awesome certain animals are.”

Another animal that can be temperamental to work with is the shark. 

“(The water is) 72 degrees, which might sound kind of warm, but when you're in water for a while, it gets a little cold,” Haskell said.

It’s a chilling task that she said she wants to do more of in the next 10 years. 

“I would really like to see the aquarium get just some new exhibits, if we can expand it all,” Haskell said. "I'd love some offsite quarantine, so we can house some animals before they come in, offsite, and then that will open up a lot of space in the building as well.”

The Greater Cleveland Aquarium is located at 2000 Sycamore St, Cleveland, Ohio 44113.