Me with my first pet - a duck named Cuddles. (They were all named Cuddles, actually.)

Okay, wanting to delve right in, yes? Here goes. First and foremost - you should know is that I have a hat named Kate. Kate gets fan mail. I kid you not. Moving on...

Currently, I have no clue what I'm doing with my life. I'm kind of a senior in college, though I've completed four years of school already. Originally, I wanted to major in marine biology, though everybody (including my dentist!) told me this would be a bad idea. (My dentist actually started out majoring in marine bio, so I figured he knew something. He used to quiz me on genus species while he was drilling my teeth.) So I started out as a film major, wanting to work in computer special effects, and then decided I hated it. Around this time, I found that volunteering at an aquarium gave me great joy, and decided that marine biology really was the way to go.

However, changing my major in my junior year kind of screwed me up, and now there are a bunch of classes I need to make up. This sucks and so I didn't graduate on time, and then ended up moving out of state.

Snapple - one of my birds that I hand raised.

So right now I'm on a break from school, though some day I hope to complete schooling and maybe find a job at a nice aquarium somewhere, because that's the job I'll LOVE.

Though I live in Colorado right now, I was born in California on September 21st, 1980. There is nothing significant about this day, except perhaps that it is the autumnal equinox occasionally, depending on what calendar you look at.

Feeding the turtles at the aquarium. Louise is the one in front, Thelma is the one I'm feeding.

We lived in a small, 2 bedroom house when I was first born. I ended up having to share my bedroom with my brother once he was born in 1982. I lived there until I was four and then my parents bought their own house in another part of the city, where I lived until August, 2002. At that time, I moved to Colorado and married Steven, who also happens to be a big orca fan. Lucky me, huh? =)

Since I was little, I have always loved animals and there has always been sort of a zoo around my house. At the moment, we have a gazillion fish and four birds. (Hopefully a hedgehog and a Brazilian rainbow boa will be added to the mix. ;) We've had many birds as I've grown up, along with many ducks, a few dogs, a chicken, several different types of lizards and turtles, a frog, and a couple of rabbits. My most favorite animal of all is the orca, or killer whale, though I do like other members of the cetacean (or whale) group. Other animals I like are humpback whales, Commerson's dolphins, African elephants, and giraffes - I seem to have a thing for big animals, with the exception of the Commerson's dolphins. I'm also a dragon nut, and that started back in 1995 when somebody introduced me to Dragonriders of Pern by Anne McCaffrey.

My dream since I was about twelve years old was to one day work with orcas or some other marine mammal, but preferably orcas. I can't explain my attachment to orcas, really. Maybe it's the magic in their eyes. They're so large, yet so graceful, so capable of harm, yet so loving towards their family. They seem so intelligent, and I want to know their secrets.

As for working with them... I really love playing with them, but I'm not going to be a trainer or anything for several reasons. I'm blind as a bat when I don't have my contacts in, and they have the annoying tendancy to float away underwater. I'm also very sensitive to sunlight - it hurts my eyes something fierce and I burn rather quickly. I'm also not blonde enough or cute enough, so all of that kind of screws up my chances of being a trainer. It doesn't matter though, because I think I'll be really happy as an aquarist and I really prefer the idea of doing some sort of research with cetaceans. I'm the kind of person who prefers being up to my elbows in muck anyway, rather than out performing.

Currently, my little dream is to find some place to research orcas for a few years, but I think so far every location has been taken. I'm very interested in animal behavior and also orca vocalizations. I'd also just like to be able to catalogue them and really get to know them as individuals.

In the summer of 1993, I volunteered as a junior docent at a little tiny aquarium. We mostly gave tours to various school and day camp groups that came to the aquarium.

I play with Sumar (left) and Takara (right). Takara wants to eat my stuffed stingray.

I returned there the summer of 1995, still doing tours in the mornings, but in the afternoons I'd help the aquarists prepare fish and feed animals. In 1998, a new, much larger aquarium opened up, and I started volunteering there as soon as I turned 18. For four years, I helped maintain several tanks housing tropical fish, cold water fish, and a variety of animals, including some rather impressive sea turtles. I've also worked with caring for the skates and rays there, banded sea kraits (one of the most venomous snakes in the world), sea dragons, cuttlefish, giant Pacific octopuses, and many many many sea horses, along with many other fish that can be found from all over the Pacific Ocean.

The web is another large aspect of my life. We got our first computer in 1990 - a Mac Classic. It was outrageously expensive, but worth the investment, I think. We first got online in 1995, having graduated from a Mac Classic to something that actually had color. Egads. It shames me to admit it, but we were first signed up with AOL. Never to fear, we moved on, and now I'm a net junkie. I can usually be found online somewhere, either on ICQ or IRC, going by the name Kasatka. (Read about Kasatka and why I chose the name.)

Steven and I during one of my visits to Colorado.

In 1996, I started my first website, Whale Web. It has grown and expanded since then and now has it's own domain name. Working on websites is also a hobby of mine, as well as the occassional part-time job. I'm from the "old school" and refuse to use an editor - this site is all done in raw HTML baby!

When I'm not lounging around on the net, I love to read, draw and fiddle on the piano. Orcas are usually the subjects of my drawings, though I also draw other pictures, usually of animals. I have no talent at all in drawing people and drawing landscapes kind of bores me. If a picture captures my attention, I'll draw it. I also love daydreaming, though I do it more often than I should.

Occasionally I'll write music, though the only person who has ever heard any of my songs is Steven. He tends to record them as well, though I'm not about to pass them around any time soon.

As for other things I like. Well, I love to drive and drive forever just seeing where roads take me and I hope to one day drive across country and see everything. But driving is only good if you have good music to sing along with. I'm a lousy singer, but I love to sing in the car. I'm one of those people who has a "travel itch" - I need to go places.

My most favorite place in the world.

I love the ocean, and I miss it terribly. Just the smell and the sound of the waves crashing. And another love of mine is to stare at stars. Now that I live in Colorado, I can see a whole lot more of the sky. California just had too much light pollution.

All suited up for a dive. =)

I also liked going to Sea World and watching the orcas. Sometimes I played with them, and sometimes I just sat and watched. To me, they're the most beautiful and graceful animals on the earth. I have yet to see one in the wild (not for a lack of trying though) but hopefully that dream will come true one day soon. I'm busy studying up on dorsal fins for the Northern Residents at the moment, just in case. =)

Hmm, what else.. I have three siblings - one younger brother, and one older brother and one older sister. I don't know my older brother and sister that well. My older brother lives in California, but I only saw him a couple times a year. My sister lives in New Zealand with her family, and I've only actually met her a couple of times.

Okay, well, enough about me. It would probably get rather boring if I continued. (Not that I haven't written enough already.) If you want to know more about me though (or tell me about yourself. Entertain me. Please.), you can email me with any questions (or stories!!) at kasatka@whale-web.com.