Monday, June 22, 2009

#132: Safety First

We have been extremely busy preparing the New Balance Marine Mammal Center for the arrival of the fur seals. Our design and construction team has been putting the finishing touches on the exhibit and we have been making sure that everything is ship shape. This includes diving in the new exhibit to scrub algae off the walls and vacuum up debris. Since it is still considered a construction site, we must wear the proper safety gear. Wearing the hard hat and day-glo vest was a bit awkward over my dive gear, but I think it really added something to the outfit.




Don't you think?

- Justin

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posted by Justin at 10:30 AM 1 Comments



Tuesday, October 28, 2008

#62: Getting My Feet Wet

SCUBA certification is a requirement for our job so that we can dive in our exhibits to clean and do other housekeeping. As the newest trainer, I just received my SCUBA certification. But before I can jump in with the seals, I had to do a checkout dive with the Aquarium's Diving Safety Officer in the Giant Ocean Tank (GOT). I was nervous, and the fact that my boss, co-workers and a small crowd at the top of the tank were watching didn't help. As soon as I jumped in my nerves eased a little bit and we started the dive. Watch this video of how I did:



I was tested on basic SCUBA skills such as taking off my mask and SCUBA gear (in the video I'm taking off my weight belt and putting it back on oh so gracefully) , sharing air with my buddy, and finding neutral buoyancy. After doing the skills I got a tour of the GOT. I got really close to a nurse shark, scratched Myrtle's back and saw where all the eels were hiding. What started off as a nerve-wracking experience ended up being really fun. Next step: learning how to vacuum up seal poop.



You can read more about scientific dive testing by checking out John's post over at the Giant Ocean Tank Blog.


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posted by Justin at 3:39 PM 4 Comments



Wednesday, August 13, 2008

#36: Cleaning House

One of the most important parts of a trainer's job is keeping the seals' environment clean and safe. However this doesn't just apply to the food prep areas or to the rocks that the seals haul out on. The trainers (and some of our SCUBA certified volunteers) dive in the front seal exhibit twice weekly to "clean house." First thing's first though.



We feed Chewie, our seventeen pound lobster. Though his diet varies, right now he's eating only shrimp. Next it's time to pick up the seal toys and take them topside where they'll be scrubbed and disinfected. In the warm, sunny weather algae grows very quickly in the exhibit. So our visitors can get a clear view of our harbor seals we take a soft, textured cloth and wipe off any algae that might be growing on the glass. Then it's time for the "dirty" work: vacuuming up all the loose algae, detritus (look it up!) and fecal matter that settles on the bottom of the tank. Even though it's a lot of work setting up and breaking down the vacuum and dive gear, the opportunity to spend a little time with the seals in their underwater home makes it all worth it.
Plus, you never know when you might find a little buried "treasure."

(In this cleaning session I found a whisker!)

-Paul

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posted by NEAQ at 11:42 AM 0 Comments