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Cleaning with Sharks
The volunteer programme
While the aquarium was built, the question of how to implement the volunteer programme was being considered. Although this is done in-house at most other aquariums of this kind, it was decided to outsource the organisation of the volunteers to the Cincinnati dive company Scuba Unlimited. In this way it was possible to benefit from the know-how of an established company, which could service the required equipment and which had considerable experience in underwater maintenance. The dive equipment manufacturer Mares was also taken on board. They support the organisation with equipment and their local representative is also a "wet volunteer".
How do you become a wet volunteer?
"With lots of luck, as we have a waiting list of about 100 applicants at the moment," Jennifer Rehberger answers with a smile. Right at the beginning of the programme over 500 divers applied, showing how attractive a job as a volunteer aquarium diver is. A further indicator for this is that volunteer fluctuation is extremely low. Out of the
35 volunteers who have been with the aquarium right from the start, 29 are "wet volunteers", just over a quarter of the divers employed today.
"One of the great things about our volunteers is that our divers aren't one homogeneous group, but consist of people from all walks of life and lots of different age groups!" is Jen's answer to my question about the "typical" volunteer. "In our organisation there are mothers, managers, teachers, air traffic controllers and other staff from the airport nearby, students and pensioners, ranging in age from 18 to 75. At the moment there are more male than female members, but that is changing!"
The requirements for the actual application are not that high: applicants need to be at least 18 years of age, have the Advanced Open Water certificate and need to have completed a CPR and a First Aid course.
The actual selection process consists of a written exam on diving theory, including questions on underwater life. This is followed by an actual diving assessment where special emphasis is put on the applicant's buoyancy control. Those who manage to pass these tests are then interviewed again in order to see if they would fit personality-wise into the existing volunteer team.
The training
If a candidate manages to get admitted to the group of "Wet Volunteers", it doesn't mean that he or she is allowed into the shark tank straight away! First of all they need to go through some special training which was especially devised for this aquarium. The programme was developed in-house, and was fine-tuned during the first year. During the development phase, before the first volunteers were taken on, the training officers also went to other aquariums to see how they handled similar programmes and to get suggestions for their own training. Over the years this training programme has proved to be very efficient and met all expectations, so the trainers in charge are more than satisfied.
The programme consists of a theoretical part, including a manual devised by the trainers with an accompanying video, an observation phase and practical dive training. Obviously enough practical diving competence, especially excellent buoyancy control, is exceedingly important in such a fragile environment as these tanks. It is therefore not surprising that excellent buoyancy control plays such a big part both in the initial selection process (in the form of a dive obstacle course) and the training programme of the volunteers. Another aspect is the interaction with the aquarium's life forms - not only the swimming exhibits, but also the paying customers! Wet Volunteers have to be able to answer visitors' questions about the creatures in the galleries and (as opposed to volunteers in other aquariums) are supposed to interact with the visitors when they are diving inside the tanks.
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