I haven't gotten there yet but some close friends did and here are their thoughts:
Dear Tommy:
Lesley and I went diving in the Georgia Aquarium this past Friday with the Whale Sharks. What follows are Lesley's words about the dive:
We left home on August 22, 2008 to drive to Atlanta where we were scheduled to dive with the Whale Sharks at the Atlanta Aquarium. We got to the Aquarium an hour or so early to get settled in, meet our fellow divers and so forth.
We meet all the divers, the three dive masters and an assorted host of support staff. They took us to a briefing room, told us what we were going to do, showed a video of what were we going to do and then summarized what we were going to do. It really was a pretty impressive briefing. We dove with a movie producer, his CFO, and a couple from north of Atlanta. Your every day mixed bag of divers.
We were lead up to the observation deck above the actual aquarium. It encompasses a tank\pool approximately 30 feet deep and bigger than a football field. They provided all our gear, wetsuits, masks, fins etc and helped us with our tanks. The entire operation was immaculately clean and very well organized.
After we suited up and lowered ourselves down a ladder in the pool, the Whale Sharks, glided by, looking like B-52's with spotted tops and white, white underbellies. They came within rubbing distance. I think they are very curious fish. They stay at or near the surface, so we stayed at or near the bottom so that we could avoid colliding with them.
The aquarium recently, that morning, released a new Manta Ray into the tank. It floated by, and by and by. It really was checking out its new home. I think they had obtained it from an aquarium in South Africa and we were the first divers to be in the tank with it. As the aquarium contains 6.3 million gallons of salt water, it had a lot of areas to check out.
The public viewing areas actually only view a small portion of the actual aquarium. The public really does not see that much. When we glided into their view, they reacted as if we were a natural part of the exhibit. They looked pretty funny to us too, all that waving, finger pointing and picture taking.
We drifted in a clockwise circle at about 28 feet through the entire aquarium. We saw up close and personal whale sharks, hammer head sharks, guitarfish, sawfish, giant grouper- but not as big as the one in the wheel house of that ship off Panama City or hanging around bridge span 14, tarpon, leopard rays, spotted rays, jacks, hump headed Wrasses, mullets, yellow fish, blue fish and God's assorted colors of all fish under the rainbows and under the seas. They swam under us, over us, by us and with us. It was a constantly changing ballet of fish moving, always moving by and with us.
Now Lesley has ALWAYS been afraid of sharks but after a one-on-one with the Hammerhead, It glided by so close they were literally eyeball to eyeball, all she said was how beautiful it was.
The diving program began in June of 2008. They furnish all equipment, provide towels, showers, shampoos after the dive and generally make is as enjoyable an experience as possible.
At the end of our dive, which was 36 minutes, we were waiting our turn to ascend and go up the ladder. The videographer, who had been with us (also one of the dive masters) and got on the ladder,. When she got there, a Whale Shark glided over and then curled around her, circling back so close that its enormous tail fin rubbed against her. It reminded me of our dog greeting us at the door when we get home.
So, when the weather is gloomy and you are dreaming of Bonaire, go to the Atlanta Aquarium and get the next best thing. It was a great experience.
Jim and Lesley
Dear Tommy:
Lesley and I went diving in the Georgia Aquarium this past Friday with the Whale Sharks. What follows are Lesley's words about the dive:
We left home on August 22, 2008 to drive to Atlanta where we were scheduled to dive with the Whale Sharks at the Atlanta Aquarium. We got to the Aquarium an hour or so early to get settled in, meet our fellow divers and so forth.
We meet all the divers, the three dive masters and an assorted host of support staff. They took us to a briefing room, told us what we were going to do, showed a video of what were we going to do and then summarized what we were going to do. It really was a pretty impressive briefing. We dove with a movie producer, his CFO, and a couple from north of Atlanta. Your every day mixed bag of divers.
We were lead up to the observation deck above the actual aquarium. It encompasses a tank\pool approximately 30 feet deep and bigger than a football field. They provided all our gear, wetsuits, masks, fins etc and helped us with our tanks. The entire operation was immaculately clean and very well organized.
After we suited up and lowered ourselves down a ladder in the pool, the Whale Sharks, glided by, looking like B-52's with spotted tops and white, white underbellies. They came within rubbing distance. I think they are very curious fish. They stay at or near the surface, so we stayed at or near the bottom so that we could avoid colliding with them.
The aquarium recently, that morning, released a new Manta Ray into the tank. It floated by, and by and by. It really was checking out its new home. I think they had obtained it from an aquarium in South Africa and we were the first divers to be in the tank with it. As the aquarium contains 6.3 million gallons of salt water, it had a lot of areas to check out.
The public viewing areas actually only view a small portion of the actual aquarium. The public really does not see that much. When we glided into their view, they reacted as if we were a natural part of the exhibit. They looked pretty funny to us too, all that waving, finger pointing and picture taking.
We drifted in a clockwise circle at about 28 feet through the entire aquarium. We saw up close and personal whale sharks, hammer head sharks, guitarfish, sawfish, giant grouper- but not as big as the one in the wheel house of that ship off Panama City or hanging around bridge span 14, tarpon, leopard rays, spotted rays, jacks, hump headed Wrasses, mullets, yellow fish, blue fish and God's assorted colors of all fish under the rainbows and under the seas. They swam under us, over us, by us and with us. It was a constantly changing ballet of fish moving, always moving by and with us.
Now Lesley has ALWAYS been afraid of sharks but after a one-on-one with the Hammerhead, It glided by so close they were literally eyeball to eyeball, all she said was how beautiful it was.
The diving program began in June of 2008. They furnish all equipment, provide towels, showers, shampoos after the dive and generally make is as enjoyable an experience as possible.
At the end of our dive, which was 36 minutes, we were waiting our turn to ascend and go up the ladder. The videographer, who had been with us (also one of the dive masters) and got on the ladder,. When she got there, a Whale Shark glided over and then curled around her, circling back so close that its enormous tail fin rubbed against her. It reminded me of our dog greeting us at the door when we get home.
So, when the weather is gloomy and you are dreaming of Bonaire, go to the Atlanta Aquarium and get the next best thing. It was a great experience.
Jim and Lesley
