The initial occasion Abby Steijlen entered the Florida Aquarium in Tampa was for her concluding interview for a fresh position. Prior to that, she had solely functioned as a video creator in athletics, especially with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and her university, the University of Georgia. Transitioning to the aquarium represented a professional advancement, but she was prepared for it.  

Steijlen AB ’18 excelled in the interview.  

 “I operate in a location where if I’m experiencing a rough day, I can sit before a 350,000-gallon exhibit and observe sharks, fish, and rays,” states Steijlen, the video production manager at the Florida Aquarium since 2022.   

 However, Steijlen is not satisfied to merely view the aquarium’s inhabitants through glass. Shortly after her employment, she acquired her scuba certification, which unveiled an entirely new underwater realm.  Steijlen frequently dives into the aquarium’s environments to capture footage of marine life. Supported by a diving partner, Steijlen often swims within an arm’s reach of several sand tiger sharks. She remains unfazed. 

 “It’s difficult to feel frightened when you are enveloped by such beauty,” she remarks. “Each time I dive, I feel just as thrilled as the first time because I’m uncertain of what I will encounter next.”

At UGA, Steijlen concentrated on linguistics. The summer preceding her final year, she secured an internship at the NFL Network as a video editor. Before her internship, it was her emphasis on speech and language that distinguished her application. It certainly wasn’t her video experience, she humorously notes.  

Before the internship, Steijlen hadn’t touched a video camera since high school, and after a self-directed, intensive course on video production, she hasn’t set it down since. Her time at the NFL Network led her to a position with UGA athletics; she spent her last year documenting every UGA sport she could.  

 Although Steijlen operates in a visual arena, her mastery of language enhances her skills. Her responsibilities entail conducting interviews; understanding how to pose the right questions to obtain the best responses is quite beneficial. Ultimately, it’s always effective to allow the visuals to convey the message. Steijlen’s most impactful work incorporates both visual elements as well as direct collaborations with aquarium scientists and other experts.  

She has captured the releases of numerous sea turtles rehabilitated at the aquarium. Last fall, after Hurricane Milton damaged the roof of Tampa Bay Rays’ home park, Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Steijlen documented the rescue and transfer of the stadium’s cherished rays across the bay.   

Steijlen intends to broaden her fieldwork to encompass open-water videography.  

Later this year, if circumstances permit, she hopes to film the outplanting of aquarium-grown corals in the Florida Keys.  

“The aquarium is not merely a source of entertainment,” she asserts. “We are a conservation-focused aquarium, and we undertake extraordinary work.” In addition to sea turtle and coral rehabilitation, the aquarium aims to safeguard other endangered wildlife globally, Steijlen explains. It is dedicated to maintaining the cleanliness of Tampa Bay and other Florida water systems.  

“I never contemplated working in a place like this, but I haven’t regretted a single moment.”