Kristen McMahon-Van Oss '92 was 4 years old when she saw a dolphin trainer in a marine show and said that was what she was going to be. She was right.

McMahon-Van Oss is a senior trainer of false killer whales and Atlantic bottlenose dolphins at SeaWorld Florida in Orlando, where she performs daily. "All along through high school and college I said I was going to be a dolphin trainer," she said. As a Colby freshman she stopped by Mystic Aquarium in her home state of Connecticut and asked how to become a trainer. At the Mystic trainer's recommendation she majored in biology, took psychology courses and completed internships at a dolphin research center in the Florida Keys and at Mystic Aquarium.

Upon graduation from Colby, McMahon-Van Oss sent her résumé to any place that had dolphins. She spent a year at the Indianapolis Zoo and in 1994 moved to SeaWorld Ohio, where she met her husband-to-be, Kenneth, a sea lion trainer. They transferred to SeaWorld Florida in 1997.

McMahon-Van Oss performs in the Key West Dolphin Fest, which displays the animals' natural abilities, she said. During performances she swims with bottlenose dolphins, introduces audience volunteers to the animals and performs aerials (tricks out of the water) and hydros (tricks in the water) with false killer whales.

So, how do you get a 1,100-pound whale to follow your cue? "Psychology," she said. "You give them toys, fish or attention to increase the frequency of good behavior. We ignore the incorrect behavior for three seconds, to draw as little attention as possible to the act."McMahon-Van Oss says trainers must develop a relationship of trust and respect with each animal. "You wouldn't ask a friend to do a favor until you knew them," she said. New trainers rub down and feed the animals, and the animals, which can discriminate between trainers, view them positively in return.

Trainers direct the animals with hand signals and an extension pole. To set up an aerial, McMahon-Van Oss swims to the pool bottom, gets into position with the animal, makes sure the other trainer is ready and then goes for it. "In aerials you have to be very precise, since the pool is only so big," she said. She admits there is some risk in working with large animals but says trainers won't get into the water if the animals are out of sorts or behaving strangely.

Between shows trainers swim, instruct and play with the animals. "We spend a good part of the day in the water," McMahon-Van Oss said. To become a marine-animal trainer you must pass a physical test that includes swimming 25 feet to the pool bottom, 110 feet under water (horizontally) without surfacing for air and freestyle laps in an Olympic-size pool. Push-ups and carrying 30-pound buckets are some of the other components. "My arms are much bigger now," McMahon Van-Oss said.

Senior trainer is the last position before entering management, which is her goal, along with eventually moving into animal breeding, possibly with SeaWorld's false killer whale colony. It seems inevitable that McMahon-Van Oss will master this next aerial. Like her charges, she's learning all the time.