Meet Ashley

Ashley Watson is 25 years old, and originally from Brattleboro Vermont. Her constant love for marine life has steered her carrier path in life, and guided her travels.

Having graduated from Coastal Carolina University with a degree in marine science and minor in biology, Ashley has always known she has wanted to care for and work around animals. While attending Coastal University her favorite part was attending marine labs on the college’s private island; “who doesn’t want class on the beach”. After a spring break trip to Key West in 2016, Ashley decided she loved the keys. In In 2017 she applied for an internship here at Aquarium Encounters and was accepted. After working tirelessly and impressively in her internship Ashley was hired as an employee at the aquarium in April of 2018. After Hurricane Irma, Ashley was one of the first people back from evacuating to help check on our animals, and worked hard to get our facility back to what it was before the hurricane. Aquarium Encounters asked her in December of 2018 if she wanted to be a marine biologist and to work more with the animals, she of course said yes!

Now living the island life and avoiding the cold Vermont winters, Ashley is an even more very active person. She played softball, basketball, and soccer in high school, club softball in college, and now pick-up sports here in Marathon. On her days off she enjoys playing with her dog Mako, and exploring the keys.

When Ashley was a child her and her family frequented Sea World in Orlando, and that was where her love for marine life started. Now Ashley hopes to pass on the passion through working with the public, “I feel by educating guests on marine life, it will help people learn to care more about it.” Guests can catch Ashley leading encounters, tours and feeds at the aquarium, stop by and say “Hello” the next time you visit!