Meet the Instructors

Terry Samansky

instructor Bio

Terry has worked with dolphins, whales, seals, sea lions and walruses since 1979. Upon receiving his Bachelor's degree in biology and chemistry, he began his professional career at Marineland of California. Eight years later he went on to Marine World Africa USA, which is now Six Flags Discovery Kingdom. In 2001 he left Six Flags to start his own consulting company and launch the popular website DolphinTrainer.com.

Over the years Terry has held positions as a marine mammal keeper, rehabilitation specialist, trainer, curator and director, and has worked at facilities in the United States, Japan and South America. As a member of several top management teams, Terry has had the opportunity to interview, hire and train numerous successful candidates for a wide variety of marine mammal positions. This experience, and his desire to help aspiring marine mammal professionals, motivated him to write and publish the popular book "Starting Your Career as a Marine Mammal Trainer."

Terry has also written and co-authored numerous papers and publications for professional organizations such as IMATA and IAAAM. He is currently the owner/editor of DolphinTrainer.com, and especially enjoys sharing his knowledge, expertise and enthusiasm for marine mammal biology, care and training though live interactive classes and workshops.