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Cleaning with Sharks
More than a job?
Finally I asked Jen what motivates people to give up some of their spare time to help at the aquarium (leaving aside the thrill of being able to dive in a shark tank). "There are hardly any good places to go diving around Cincinnati. There are quarries where diving is possible, but they are about an hour's drive from here. Many of our volunteers therefore see the time spent at the aquarium
as a balance to their jobs and use some of the time to just go diving and to unwind. There is a great opportunity to do this in the mornings before the aquarium opens to the public!" And what would the volunteers say their main motivation is? "I think," says Jen after a moment of consideration, "most of them would say that the best thing about their job is to ensure that visitors have a great time and to make them, and especially the kids, laugh." Is that her motivation, too? "Yes, of course. But," admits Jen, "I get the greatest kick when I introduce new divers to our programme and observe how they get hooked!"
If you are anywhere in the vicinity of Newport or Cincinnati go and visit Newport Aquarium! I can really recommend it and even rate it higher than the one in Sydney! You can get a first impression on the website of Newport Aquarium. The volunteer divers are assisted by Scuba Unlimited and coordinated by Jennifer Rehberger, whom I would like to thank for taking the time to do this interview.
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