Diving in a Shark Tank

The best part of my job is diving. Each and every time I dive I think that I can't believe I'm getting paid to do this. We dive every Thursday morning in the shark exhibit tank to vacuum and clean. I'm off on Thursdays but I love diving so much that I volunteer as a diver each and every time I can.

We drop a big net into the tank and move all the sharks to the far side of the tank. There are two people on each side of the tank holding the net against the walls and watching for sharks. One person holds a long PVC pipe to move the sharks away from the net. If a large shark gets over or under the net the dive watch bangs two metal weights together to alert the divers.

I was by myself cleaning next to the tunnel when I heard a strange metallic sound. Any type of noise alerts you to stop breathing (the bubbling from your regulator is very loud) to look and see around you. I looked up to see the 300 lb lemon shark rolling in the net. She was about 10 feet away from me and had caught herself in the net with her teeth. There is always an adrenaline rush when you realize a shark is in the tank. I swam up and over the net to alert the other two divers when I realized no one on top had noticed. I surfaced and yelled that a shark was in the tank then descended to find the other two. By that time they had swam over the tunnel. We sank to the bottom to wait and see where the shark would swim. She swam past us, at the edge where we get out. Just as she passed we started to swim to the edge just as she made a sharp 180 degree turn toward us. We stopped swimming, sank back down and waited for her to pass. Usually someone on top takes a pole to maneuver her away from the divers. We swam across the tank and surfaced. We take off our equipment one by one while one diver stays below to watch the shark. We are all calm and cool. But it is so exciting when this happens. We ended the dive then because we were mostly finished.

I love my job!