AQUARIUMDIVING
an example of a hotspot for pollution with plastic nurdles , due to the intensive industries taking place upstream . Learning about this pollution just a few hundred metres from a real example gives local youngsters a real impetus to get involved ; a great example of the engagement mission of many aquariums .
Volunteer in the shark tank
The Ocean Conservation Trust , a charity dedicated to connecting people with the ocean , runs Plymouth ’ s National Marine Aquarium , the largest aquarium in the UK . The curators there are passionate about British seas and the aquarium does a great job of showcasing local marine life and engaging the audience with conservation and education projects . You just need to follow NMA on Facebook to see what ’ s going on .
Heather Williams , the aquarium ’ s lead biologist and diver , explains that the aquarium has developed a programme that allows volunteers to dive with the team of biologists , helping to look after the large array of native fish such as conger eels , sharks , rays and lobsters in the 5.5m deep , 350,000-litre Eddystone Reef exhibit .
After an induction programme , volunteers get involved in cleaning windows , feeding fish , using the cyclone vac to clean the environment and more . With experience , it ’ s possible to move on to help in the 10.5m deep , 2.5m-litre Ocean Tank . Here , the Caribbean coral reef is home to southern stingrays , sand tiger sharks , lemon sharks , eagle rays , sand bar and nurse sharks .
Safety is a priority , so while in the Eddystone Tank up to three volunteers can dive with one staff diver . In the Ocean Tank a single volunteer will be part of a team of many staff divers needed to get the work done while keeping a careful eye on the animals . To join the 15-strong team of volunteers you need to be a BSAC Dive Leader ( or equivalent ) and have an HSE Part IV medical , for diving at work , alongside a current First Aid at Work qualification with oxygen administration . You can complete an expression of interest form on the aquarium ’ s website , but there is a waiting list to join the team at present .
Occasionally there are also opportunities to get involved in projects that the Ocean Conservation Trust is involved in . Last year , diving volunteers with the Seagrass REMEDIES project collected seeds from seagrass meadows in three areas off the south coast of England , which were cultivated at the aquarium and planted out in Plymouth Sound to reverse the decline in the habitat there .
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What about the animals ?
I wanted to find out if the aquarium animals were affected by tourist dive experiences . Why offer shark dives , I asked Jamie Elvidge , Diving Officer at Skegness Aquarium , which works with BSAC and The Shark Trust to offer shark educational experiences . “ Our drivers are to get youngsters involved in underwater sports and promote conservation , thus helping ultimately to support grassroots diving ,” he said .
Six to 11-year-olds can do a BSAC snorkelling experience called Shark Snorkelling Ranger at Skegness and begin to learn about sharks . The team also offers shark educational dives to the over-10s and bespoke sub-aqua packages including a wetsuit dive in the Coral Ocean exhibit , surrounded by coral reef fish , rays and sharks including Nudge , the zebra shark .
The Skegness dive team is passionate about conservation and keen to help kids learn how to interact with underwater wildlife from the start . “ It ’ s long been my ambition to get marine conservation into the national curriculum ,” Jamie admits . Many of our clients have never dived before , Jamie says , and having given them an underwater experience we can encourage them to find out about their local dive clubs .
But what about the animals , I asked Jamie , how do the dive experiences affect them ? There haven ’ t been any incidents of harm to animals yet , he told me . Just four hours of diving activity a week is allowed in the tanks , and the team is strict on the maximum dive time of 30 minutes .
Before participants arrive at the aquarium , the e-learning that they do includes how to move about the tanks : they don ’ t wear fins , and kneel with the animals as this is less intimidating , Jamie explained . New animals are gradually exposed to increasing numbers of divers . If there are any signs of a stressrelated outbreak in the tank , the team has a process in place – governed by the aquarium ’ s vets and the zoological team – which they would follow .
As divers and snorkellers , we are privileged to be able to see wildlife in its natural habitats . Most aquarium visitors probably never have the chance to see underwater life in the wild . An aquarium visit might be their only chance to understand that sharks in the wild are much misunderstood and need our help . A face-to-face , underwater shark experience dive can only reinforce the message that the ocean is not our territory . It is theirs . �
PHOTO : SIMON ROGERSON
A staff diver checks the sharks at Palma Aquarium in Majorca