Dive with the sharks and stingrays at SeaWorld's aquarium
Dive with the sharks and stingrays at SeaWorld's aquarium
By Rebecca Moubray
JAKARTA (JP): As Margie Bauer was petting a turtle on the
head, a stingray zoomed by and nibbled on her's. She offered the
stingray a fish, and then mustered her courage to touch it.
"It was like feeling velvet underwater," she said.
For an hour Bauer swam in the fantasy of the main aquarium at
SeaWorld, where a volunteer program allows divers a chance to
swim with fish from the far reaches of the archipelago right here
in Jakarta.
Through the program, volunteers can dive in the main aquarium
at SeaWorld in exchange for helping to scrub and vacuum the tank.
Cleaning the aquariums is one of the most important and time-
consuming tasks for SeaWorld's regular staff of 16 divers. The
5,000 fish in the main aquarium eat 150 kilograms of food each
day. What goes in must come out, which can contaminate the water
and make the fish sick if it's not cleaned.
While volunteers feel good about helping SeaWorld, they say
they're motivated by a unique dive opportunity.
"You can go anywhere and you won't find as many fish all in
one place," said Budi Maramis, a Jakarta teacher who has dived
hundreds of times in the tank. "You can't get visibility like
this in the ocean. Here it's 100 to 120 feet."
Divers must be certified and must come with their own
equipment, minus the scuba tanks and weight belts. They must pay
Rp 50,000 (US$20) for the first dive to cover SeaWorld's costs,
but the fee is halved with each successive dive, and is free when
a diver becomes a regular SeaWorld volunteer.
When comfortable enough in the water, volunteers are rewarded
with an opportunity to feed the fish during a show.
A few months from now, PT Cipta Pesona Bahari will operate a
formal dive program in the aquarium, complete with rental
equipment on site for those who would like to pay for a dive
experience. For the altruistic or short of cash, SeaWorld will
continue to operate the volunteer cleaning program.
Volunteers say it's a unique experience diving with so many
fish and finding themselves one of the attractions for SeaWorld
visitors.
"It's normal to smile when you wave to somebody, but if you do
you get water in your mask," said Bauer, an American embassy
employee on her second SeaWorld dive.
Bauer, Maramis and others say the work isn't difficult and
tank diving is intense because there are so many fish. As one
volunteer put it, "It's a feeding frenzy and you've got the
food." Skates zoom around and knock divers off balance, and
divers are always aware they're swimming with sharks.
Suzanne Gendron, curator of exhibits and education at
SeaWorld, said the volunteer program has a value even greater
than clean tanks because it allows people to develop a personal
connection with marine life.
"They have a chance to touch something they haven't --
emotionally -- and once you become emotionally connected, it's
difficult to abuse," Gendron said.
This type of personal experience -- exactly what Bauer raved
about when she came out of the tank -- is what Gendron believes
will help save the oceans.
Conservation and education are the ultimate aims of all the
fun at SeaWorld. As Gendron says, "We're going too far in our
technology. We can find fish by satellite. We have boats that
never have to come home to freeze a fish. They don't have a
chance if we don't try to save them."