About the Blog & Author Cherilyn

manta ray named Cherilyn
Manta Ray named Cherilyn (yes, after me!)

Hello, my name is Cherilyn. What do a sea otter pup, a captive octopus and a wild humpback whale have in common? Me!

I’ve held a 3-day-old sea otter pup in the palm of my hand, taught a captive octopus to open a jar for food, and snorkeled with a humpback mother and calf, among other ocean animal adventures.

I started this blog in October of 2009 when I was pregnant with my daughter and on full bed rest.

He came to me out of the blue, my muse, Ollie the Octopus. When I wrote as him, I knew I had found that ever elusive writing voice. I have since expanded to writing as other marine animals, and have given them a voice on the many changes happening to their watery world.

My background as a marine biologist is as an aquarist—someone who takes care of aquatic animals living in aquariums. I currently take care of a 13,300 gallon freshwater tank that’s 20 feet wide and 12 feet deep. Yup, it’s so big that it has to be cleaned by scuba diving!

I’ve also worked at the world renown Monterey Bay Aquarium, Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, and the Hayward Shoreline Interpretive Center.

I try and take a scuba diving or snorkeling vacation each year and have visited the heavenly coral reefs off of Indonesia, went diving with the gentle and intelligent manta rays off of Hawaii and went snorkeling with the other gentle giants of the ocean, the whale sharks off of Cancun, Mexico.

Who knows what other wonders I’ll see in the ocean in the coming years? You can be sure I’ll share my experiences here!

I’m currently writing children’s books and stay tuned here at Ocean of Hope for updates!

To get in touch with me, email: ollieoctopus (at) sbcglobal (dot) net