Volunteering opportunities Zeehondencentrum/Seal Centre Pieterburen

Possible departments to request;

Visitors Centre/Education Assistant-

Firstly as part of our Educational team you are one of the most easily accessible persons in projecting our mission and our message of Wadden sea conservation to the public.

Assisting within a small team of inspirational people, you will give educational tours and presentations, assist with school groups of various ages, assist with special events on or offsite, whilst keeping the Visitors Centre presentable. As well as this important role you will also work behind the scenes on the Communications side, you will help to create educational material for the visitors centre and have the opportunity to create short promotional films and photos to inspire and encourage interest in our centres mission via social media and for use in-house.

Although Dutch applicants are preferred due to the work at the front of house, these positions are also open to international applicants with a good level of English. Those who speak multiple languages, (German being of high preference due to the large amount of German visitors each year), are also very much appreciated. Above all, a person with a happy and friendly nature with enthusiasm, for conservation of the Wadden sea, seals, and all its inhabitants,is of the greatest asset to our team.

Seal Care/Rehabilitation assistant-

Within our specialized seal hospital you may expect: parasitic pneumonia, trauma patients (wounds, eye problems, broken bones...) and injured pups as the main cause of stranding.

 In this department we are looking for those persons with a minimum age of 18 years (this is due to working restrictions for under 18yrs) with a desire to assist our experienced nurses with the day to day care of the seal patients. 

As a member of our Seal Care team, tasks you could expect to take part in could include, but are not limited to: assisting the nurses with tube feedings, medical procedures (weighing, transportation, and assisting physical examinations/wound care), preparing individual and special diets, sanitation of enclosures following our strict protocols, etc.

No previous experience with wild animals is required as there will be full training and reference material given, although the preferable candidates will be able to dedicate a length of stay of 12 weeks, we do accept a minimum length of stay of 8 weeks. The structured working week consists of 5 days, an average of 40 hours per week. A good level of English is a requirement for this position. People who can handle pressure, are flexible, have an eye for detail and can be professional in sensitive situations is a must for working within this team. 

Administration/Communications assistant-

In our dedicated administration team we are looking for those persons who have good computer skills, have a polite and clear telephone manner, and the wish to go above and beyond to help each persons who calls to the centre. Besides this there can be a variety of tasks in which to assist within: The registration of donators and adoptants, checking and recording data related to Stranding’s, providing up to date information to finders of seals and adoptants of patients in-house. You will also be a part of the team in creating fundraising projects, and may take part in special events on or off-site. A Native speaker of Dutch is required with a good level of English also. 

For those who are interested in a Veterinary internship then please note that those positions are advertised twice yearly via our Website page, the positions are 1 year long and you must be in your last year of veterinary medicine or already be a qualified Veterinarian to apply.

If you are interested in any of our upcoming Research opportunities then please also consult our Website page, otherwise if you have a proposal for a research project, you can send it via Victoria.Stoneman@zeehondencentrum.nl and it will be passed onto the Head of the Science department for consideration. Please keep in mind a minimum level of qualifications may be required depending on the project.

Beach-clean-up volunteers!-

Help to keep our local environment cleaner and become a volunteer for a day! Once a month we organized a group clean up around one of our local harbors, Interested? Keep an eye out on our Website activities page for the next upcoming date!