Aquarium Diving

[Diver0001]

norcaldiver once bubbled...
I've contacted my local aquarium and finally have been invited to try out (skills test, diving knowledge test, etc.) to be one of the Vol. divers.

Has anyone done this, had a friend do this.....friend of a friend....

It sounds really exciting, but I was looking for the real world take on this. Do you actually get to learn things about different fishes behavior, do you get to help out more than just cleaning the glass?

ARound here you get a general orientation but basically you get to clean the glass.

I'm still envious though. I applied at our local aquarium (about 2 blocks from where I live) but they required professional commercial divers like the ones from certified commerical salvage companies who would work for free on their own time to clean their glass in 1-5 metres of water. Something about liability blah blah and so-on-and-so-forth ...... funny thing is they managed to fill the post. Know what they do with the fish? The drive them all into a corner and contain them with a net while the divers clean the glass. And it all happens at night so the public doesn't have to witness this maintenance-in-progress. Stupid thing is commerical divers know nothing about hanging upside-down in the water column or neutral bouyancy so they've managed to walk over and damage 1/2 of the beautiful artificial rubber coral and other decorations. I watched them working once and I *cringed* the whole time they were busy......

Typical Dutch, you might say. OOE "Over Organise Everything". ..... Funny people this. Some things about living here never cease to amaze me.

R..

 

[norcaldiver]

Wow, mine was 50 dives, be rescue or above and have CPR before you would even be asked to take the tests.

Anyay, I start tomorrow night-I CAN'T WAIT! I'll let you know how it goes and thanks for the encouragment, Seahunt.

 

[Seahunt100%]

Alright norcaldiver, congrats!
Let us know how it goes.

Diver0001, here in Baltimore it's completely the opposite. The divers are part of the exhibit, and are in the tanks at peak times.

Our day starts with preparing all the food for the day for two large exhibits (the part I like least); gearing up; carefully pushing through the crowd in wetsuits with carts full of gear and food; while one diver narrates a film under a spotlight with a booming microphone, the others go in the water and hand-feed the turtle, rays and fish. It's really strange being the core of a literal feeding frenzy with a crowd watching! One has to be real careful about being bitten, the veteran divers don't even wear gloves! I've been nipped hard through gloves already, and I've heard of the loss of a fingernail to a puffer - ouch! (I'll keep using the gloves for now!) Each half of the dive team switches to the opposite main exhibit in the afternoon. Cleaning the fake coral with brushes in the reef exhibit amounts to about one of the four dives per day.

A very interesting experience so far.

Seahunt

 

[GQMedic]

I just got home from my first shift at AOP, it was fun, but I got worked! I was constantly on the go. I got bit by one of the sea bass on the arm, while the team leader was mid water column feeding, a few dives later, the team leader got bit on the face by some other fish. His bite was worse than the one I got, it drew blood on him, it nailed him on the upper lip between his reg and mask. I learned by watching to keep my hands tucked close and my fingers clenched in a fist, the fish sure love wiggling fingers. The reef, nurse and leopard sharks were the most behaved. The triggers were pretty fiesty. All in all, it was a fun day. Quite a workout with 5 dives and marching back and forth between exhibits.

You'll have fun. They were right about the attention you get from the public. Everyone loves the divers.

On a personal note, I just wish the drive wasn't so long. 81 miles one way with crappy traffic.

norcaldiver once bubbled...

Anyay, I start tomorrow night-I CAN'T WAIT! I'll let you know how it goes and thanks for the encouragment, Seahunt.

 

[norcaldiver]

Oh my god, you guys. It was AWESOME! I was there a little early so they said to set up and find someone to tag along with. One of the guys grabbed me, gave me a toothbrush, and took me into the the tropical reef (huge exhibit) and said to just hop in and swim around for a while to get comfy. We swam around for a while, and dropped down by a nurse shark and a zebra shark, both about 5ft long, sleeping on the bottom. We were about 2 ft away from them. There were small black-tips, baracuda, yellowtails, more fish than I could ID and way omre than I can remember. We went up to the galss and waved at kids, it was really cool. The 1st 2 hours were fun because there were people to wave at while working, but it closed at 6pm so I had 2 hours of "alone time" with the fish and my toothbrush. It was kind nice to just work and not have camera flashes for a while. I did get bit on the thigh by a huge puffer-not sure what he was after, but he got me pretty good when i wasn't looking. And there was one beautifuly colored fish about the size of a sgt maj that attacked me over and over when I'd get too close to "his" part of the wall. The have tiny blacktips in there and as I was working I came across a tiny shark tooth so I got a souvineer my first day whish made it even better.
Yeah, I think I'm gonna dig this.

 

[jbichsel]

at Ocean Journey in Denver. I go to the Volunteer Open House on Monady (Aug 18).
I know it may not be the GBR, Cozumel, Fiji, etc., but it is a way to get water time, learn a lot, have fun, and help the community.

Sure I have to drive 50 miles one way. So?

 

[norcaldiver]

jbichsel once bubbled...
I know it may not be the GBR, Cozumel, Fiji, etc., but it is a way to get water time, learn a lot, have fun, and help the community.

That's exaclty why I wanted to do this. My guide for the 1st dive said "While you're down there working, take time to just hang out and look around. Get close to the fish, really watch them. People pay thousands of dollars and fly hundreds of miles to see what we get to see everyday for free so take advantage of it."
So yeah it might not ACTUALLY be GBR, but the fish look the same.

 

[GQMedic]

Norcal,

yes, it's a blast, isn't it? Now, if it wern't such a far drive for me, it would be all the sweeter!

 

[Seahunt100%]

Alright socaldiver!

Thanks for the report. It really is an experience only few have had. Do you know if you'll be feeding?

It's interesting, but I've only been in the tanks 3 days, but they're so long and so much done, I feel like a veteran already. Much more learning in store for any new aquarium diver.

I don't see how it could ever become boring (like others have alluded to) with all the constant action.

Keep-a-bubblin!

Seahunt

 

[roakey]

I was kneeling on the bottom [don't go there anyone, there's a good reason] feeding the small fish in front of the acrylic for the guests with a nurse shark lying across my legs and one in my lap.

I could tell by the look in one guest's eyes she was expecting to see one of my legs floating off any second...

Roak