Friends with cool jobs are always a plus…
Derek, a friend we met last year volunteering with ReefCheck, is the Dive Safety Officer at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. He'd invited us to come diving in the Aquarium a couple of times, so we finally took him up on his offer and were scheduled as "guest divers" at the Aquarium last Friday. We had a blast!!
Bryan and I swimming in the Tropical Reef Habitat Exhibit
I'd visited the beautiful, expansive Aquarium several times in the past, but had never gone behind the scenes- let alone swimming in the exhibits! I thought we were just going to take a quick dive in one of the big tanks and swim around a little, but instead we were able to do 4 dives in 3 different exhibits, feed the animals, and participate in performances for the audience on the other side of the glass!
After a quick behind-the-scenes tour, we were scheduled to be a part of the 1-5 p.m. aquarist dive team. We had to wear the Aquarium's dive gear so we wouldn't risk contaminating any of the animals with our gear from the ocean. After introductions to the other divers on our team (some have done over 1,000 dives in the Aquarium!), we were suited up and ready to jump in, but had to wait for the showtime of 1:15. So, some of the veteran divers started sharing fish bite stories from the Aquarium… tales of fish nipping at cheeks, ripping out regulators from divers' mouths, a guest diver crouching in the corner of the tank to avoid leopard sharks, and the ultimate: a white sea bass biting on the lower lip of a diver so hard it started bleeding profusely causing the children in the audience to start worrying about the sharks in the exhibit 'attacking' the bleeding diver… great, just what we wanted to hear right before we jumped in! They warned us to never point (fish like to bite fingers), to expect fish to nibble our masks, not to bump or scratch the glass of the exhibit, and to gently brush the hungry fish away from us if they began swarming.
Our first dive was in "Blue Cavern," an impressive three-story high, 142,000-gallon tank which exhibits fish from southern California's rocky reef kelp forests. I was given a small food bucket and assigned the duty of "scatter feeder". Everyone had different jobs- Bryan assisted another diver with target-feeding the large fish at the bottom of the tank (halibut, giant black sea bass, etc.), one diver was the presenter with a microphone attached to his mask, and I was the scatter feeder. The main instructions I was given was to take a handful of the food, scatter it in an area, swim to the other side and do the same. They didn't tell me that 'the scatterer' was the job involving the most fish swarming…
After getting in the water, the fish immediately knew I was there to feed them and gathered around me, so I held the container tight against my chest and descended to about 15-20 feet- the level I was supposed to feed them at. The minute I scattered my first handful, huge fish were all around me- beautiful, healthy fish that were amazing- but nipping at my elbows and staring at me through my mask threatening to bite my face (the only skin showing). In particular, a couple large yellowtails were hanging around my mask, always in the corner of my peripheral vision. I had to keep tabs on them and brush them away when they'd go for my face. About 10 minutes into the dive I was out of food, so I went close to the glass and began to interact with the visitors, which was really cool! The fish were still swarming around me so I ended up swimming around the tank a lot so I wouldn't stay still long enough for them to try and nibble me. After about 25 minutes the show was done, and we surfaced to begin rinsing our gear.
In-between dives we had to rinse our gear and take a shower so as to not risk transmitting diseases between Aquarium tanks. I usually had about 15-20 minutes to take off my gear and place it in a rinse tank, take a shower, put my gear back on, and go to another tank- so we had to hustle.
Tropical Reef Habitat (we took the picture after diving)
Our second dive was in the Tropical Reef Habitat- the Aquarium's largest exhibit. Holding 350,000 gallons of water, this exhibit has over a thousand colorful fish and animals, including sea turtles, zebra and black-tip reef sharks, porcupine puffers, and a large blue Napoleon wrasse (he was always staring at me!). My job during this dive was to feed lettuce to fish. I asked them which fish I should feed, and they said, "Oh, they'll come to you…" Sounded like this was going to be another swarm to me!! As I got into the water, the rays were so hungry they kept coming to the surface where we were entering. I descended about 20 feet with two stalks of romaine lettuce in my fists, and sure enough, the fish found me! Mostly they were butterfly fish- very beautiful!
Me feeding lettuce to tropical fish
The fish in the tropical exhibit weren't as large, imposing, or aggressive as the fish in the California Blue Cavern exhibit- so this one seemed much easier and pleasant. I went close-up to the glass so the visitors could see the fish chompin' down on the lettuce- the kids loved it!! Sometimes the fish would accidentally bite my fingers, but it didn't hurt because the gloves were pretty thick. The big exhibit is connected to a couple of smaller ones, so I would sometimes swim over to the small exhibits where people would be very surprised to see a diver in a smaller space- then they would all wave at me.
Bryan and I inside the Tropical Fish Exhibit
This was my favorite dive of the day- it was so fun interacting with the crowd through the Plexiglas, and the fish were all so beautiful. After about 20 minutes, we surfaced and were about to rinse our gear when Bryan and I were asked to feed fish in the smaller "Soft Coral Gardens" exhibit. We didn't have to rinse our gear because this tank is on the same tropical water system.
The interesting animals residing the "Soft Coral Gardens" tank were a big porcupine puffer fish and a sea turtle. Bryan's job was to feed little worms to the fish hiding in the coral, where my job was feeding lettuce and scatter feeding the other animals. Apparently, this is many of the divers' favorite tank because it's calmer, warm, and more low-key (for those of you that have been to the aquarium, it's the aquarium in the tube.)
What the outside of the aquarium looks like in the tube (we dove on both sides)
The only thing I was warned about was the puffer, that he would try to get close, and I should just try to stay away from him and not give him any food (he was fed previously from above). While diving in the small tank, he constantly tried to get close to me, and it was a little unnerving because he has one big tooth! After we finished the feeding, and began washing our gear, the veteran divers got into their stories once again. They told us that the puffer had bit off half a diver's ear and that's why he was moved to the small tank rather than the large one… great… at least I didn't have any negative interactions with the puffer.
Swimming in the exhibit
Our fourth and final dive was in the big Tropical Reef Habitat once again. This was just a presentation dive and not a feeding dive, so I swam around the exhibit, then played rock, paper, scissors with children through the glass. They loved it! So many people wanted to pose for pictures with us diving in the tank- it was fun! People would get all scared for us when one of the sharks would swim near, or even one of the big groupers!
Me playing Rock, Paper, Scissors with Kids
Overall, the day was super-wonderful!! The visitors were so friendly, waving, and trying to touch me through the thick glass. I felt like the entire audience was enchanted by the fish and divers, that we really made their day. Everyone was smiling! The fish were beautiful, huge, and healthy and just awesome to swim with. I had a GREAT time and really appreciated Derek hooking us up with the amazing experience. If I ever end up living close to Long Beach, I'm definitely going to look into becoming a volunteer diver there.
Derek, a friend we met last year volunteering with ReefCheck, is the Dive Safety Officer at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach. He'd invited us to come diving in the Aquarium a couple of times, so we finally took him up on his offer and were scheduled as "guest divers" at the Aquarium last Friday. We had a blast!!
Bryan and I swimming in the Tropical Reef Habitat Exhibit
I'd visited the beautiful, expansive Aquarium several times in the past, but had never gone behind the scenes- let alone swimming in the exhibits! I thought we were just going to take a quick dive in one of the big tanks and swim around a little, but instead we were able to do 4 dives in 3 different exhibits, feed the animals, and participate in performances for the audience on the other side of the glass!
After a quick behind-the-scenes tour, we were scheduled to be a part of the 1-5 p.m. aquarist dive team. We had to wear the Aquarium's dive gear so we wouldn't risk contaminating any of the animals with our gear from the ocean. After introductions to the other divers on our team (some have done over 1,000 dives in the Aquarium!), we were suited up and ready to jump in, but had to wait for the showtime of 1:15. So, some of the veteran divers started sharing fish bite stories from the Aquarium… tales of fish nipping at cheeks, ripping out regulators from divers' mouths, a guest diver crouching in the corner of the tank to avoid leopard sharks, and the ultimate: a white sea bass biting on the lower lip of a diver so hard it started bleeding profusely causing the children in the audience to start worrying about the sharks in the exhibit 'attacking' the bleeding diver… great, just what we wanted to hear right before we jumped in! They warned us to never point (fish like to bite fingers), to expect fish to nibble our masks, not to bump or scratch the glass of the exhibit, and to gently brush the hungry fish away from us if they began swarming.
Our first dive was in "Blue Cavern," an impressive three-story high, 142,000-gallon tank which exhibits fish from southern California's rocky reef kelp forests. I was given a small food bucket and assigned the duty of "scatter feeder". Everyone had different jobs- Bryan assisted another diver with target-feeding the large fish at the bottom of the tank (halibut, giant black sea bass, etc.), one diver was the presenter with a microphone attached to his mask, and I was the scatter feeder. The main instructions I was given was to take a handful of the food, scatter it in an area, swim to the other side and do the same. They didn't tell me that 'the scatterer' was the job involving the most fish swarming…
After getting in the water, the fish immediately knew I was there to feed them and gathered around me, so I held the container tight against my chest and descended to about 15-20 feet- the level I was supposed to feed them at. The minute I scattered my first handful, huge fish were all around me- beautiful, healthy fish that were amazing- but nipping at my elbows and staring at me through my mask threatening to bite my face (the only skin showing). In particular, a couple large yellowtails were hanging around my mask, always in the corner of my peripheral vision. I had to keep tabs on them and brush them away when they'd go for my face. About 10 minutes into the dive I was out of food, so I went close to the glass and began to interact with the visitors, which was really cool! The fish were still swarming around me so I ended up swimming around the tank a lot so I wouldn't stay still long enough for them to try and nibble me. After about 25 minutes the show was done, and we surfaced to begin rinsing our gear.
In-between dives we had to rinse our gear and take a shower so as to not risk transmitting diseases between Aquarium tanks. I usually had about 15-20 minutes to take off my gear and place it in a rinse tank, take a shower, put my gear back on, and go to another tank- so we had to hustle.
Tropical Reef Habitat (we took the picture after diving)
Our second dive was in the Tropical Reef Habitat- the Aquarium's largest exhibit. Holding 350,000 gallons of water, this exhibit has over a thousand colorful fish and animals, including sea turtles, zebra and black-tip reef sharks, porcupine puffers, and a large blue Napoleon wrasse (he was always staring at me!). My job during this dive was to feed lettuce to fish. I asked them which fish I should feed, and they said, "Oh, they'll come to you…" Sounded like this was going to be another swarm to me!! As I got into the water, the rays were so hungry they kept coming to the surface where we were entering. I descended about 20 feet with two stalks of romaine lettuce in my fists, and sure enough, the fish found me! Mostly they were butterfly fish- very beautiful!
Me feeding lettuce to tropical fish
The fish in the tropical exhibit weren't as large, imposing, or aggressive as the fish in the California Blue Cavern exhibit- so this one seemed much easier and pleasant. I went close-up to the glass so the visitors could see the fish chompin' down on the lettuce- the kids loved it!! Sometimes the fish would accidentally bite my fingers, but it didn't hurt because the gloves were pretty thick. The big exhibit is connected to a couple of smaller ones, so I would sometimes swim over to the small exhibits where people would be very surprised to see a diver in a smaller space- then they would all wave at me.
Bryan and I inside the Tropical Fish Exhibit
This was my favorite dive of the day- it was so fun interacting with the crowd through the Plexiglas, and the fish were all so beautiful. After about 20 minutes, we surfaced and were about to rinse our gear when Bryan and I were asked to feed fish in the smaller "Soft Coral Gardens" exhibit. We didn't have to rinse our gear because this tank is on the same tropical water system.
The interesting animals residing the "Soft Coral Gardens" tank were a big porcupine puffer fish and a sea turtle. Bryan's job was to feed little worms to the fish hiding in the coral, where my job was feeding lettuce and scatter feeding the other animals. Apparently, this is many of the divers' favorite tank because it's calmer, warm, and more low-key (for those of you that have been to the aquarium, it's the aquarium in the tube.)
What the outside of the aquarium looks like in the tube (we dove on both sides)
The only thing I was warned about was the puffer, that he would try to get close, and I should just try to stay away from him and not give him any food (he was fed previously from above). While diving in the small tank, he constantly tried to get close to me, and it was a little unnerving because he has one big tooth! After we finished the feeding, and began washing our gear, the veteran divers got into their stories once again. They told us that the puffer had bit off half a diver's ear and that's why he was moved to the small tank rather than the large one… great… at least I didn't have any negative interactions with the puffer.
Swimming in the exhibit
Our fourth and final dive was in the big Tropical Reef Habitat once again. This was just a presentation dive and not a feeding dive, so I swam around the exhibit, then played rock, paper, scissors with children through the glass. They loved it! So many people wanted to pose for pictures with us diving in the tank- it was fun! People would get all scared for us when one of the sharks would swim near, or even one of the big groupers!
Me playing Rock, Paper, Scissors with Kids
Overall, the day was super-wonderful!! The visitors were so friendly, waving, and trying to touch me through the thick glass. I felt like the entire audience was enchanted by the fish and divers, that we really made their day. Everyone was smiling! The fish were beautiful, huge, and healthy and just awesome to swim with. I had a GREAT time and really appreciated Derek hooking us up with the amazing experience. If I ever end up living close to Long Beach, I'm definitely going to look into becoming a volunteer diver there.
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