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Oversight and Compliance
Each facility has its own dive-safety manual, dive logs and
equipment maintenance records. These records are kept
along with an individual file on each diver, which contains
certification information, medical and safety training
records. Every dive program also has a dive control board
made up of divers and managers who work together to
ensure a safe program, but daily operations of the dive
program are typically overseen by one person — a lead diver,
aquatics manager or dive safety officer (DSO). This essential
role exists to promote safety, ensure compliance with all
applicable standards and maintain training records for each
member of the dive staff. The DSO is also responsible for
keeping the organization’s dive-safety manual current.
Generally, dive programs at marine-animal facilities in
the U.S. follow OSHA’s guidelines for commercial diving
operations. Originally intended for commercial divers in open
water, these regulations are the backbone of professional dive
safety; however, each facility may have its own standards for
becoming a staff diver. These standards pertain to divers’ level
of certification, hours under water, diving experience and
medical fitness. Facility dive programs may include volunteer
programs, part-time dive staff who perform other jobs in the
organization and/or full-time dive crews.
Getting Involved
Volunteering or becoming employed with one of
these programs is not as difficult as you might expect.
Requirements may be academic in nature (a college
degree in a particular field, for example) or may consist
of experience or skill in carpentry, plumbing or electrical
or mechanical work. The interview would likely include
a review of one’s diving experience. The level of
certification required will vary based on the duties you’re
interested in performing. On-the-job training would
include pre- and postdive procedures, dive protocols,
equipment maintenance and cleaning and safety training.
Even recreational diving can be hard on the body, and
being underwater every day can be even more strenuous,
physically and mentally. Thus, every diver should be in
good health. To confirm fitness to dive, working divers
must undergo an evaluation by a doctor trained in dive
medicine. Some facilities also require a swim test, but a
lifeguard certification (or perhaps your dive certification)
might serve as a confirmation of swimming ability.
One of the first steps for a diver who has begun working
at an aquarium or other animal-husbandry facility is an
orientation dive with a senior diver or the DSO. During
this dive the new diver would be tested on basic skills to
demonstrate competence and confidence in the water.
Skills evaluations help ensure all divers are held to the same
standard while also refreshing skills and adapting them, if
necessary, to the facility’s unique environment. Regulator
removal, for example, could help prepare divers for getting
a second-stage hose caught on a valve handle or a piece of
decorative coral. After a satisfactory evaluation, the diver
can move along his chosen path.
Aquarium Exhibit Diving
A diver might choose aquarium exhibit diving. One of the
most engaging aspects of aquarium diving is the variety of
species available for observation and interaction. You can see
animals on a single dive that might take years of open-water
diving to see. The primary hazards associated with this path
are stingrays, sharks and other types of fish as well as the
confined nature of the environment. Equipment and skills
used include underwater communication systems, chainmail
protective suits and aquatic-animal interaction while feeding
and cleaning exhibits. Diving with surface-supplied air has
become increasingly popular because divers are not limited by
air supply and bulk is reduced compared to scuba gear.
More aquariums are becoming interactive facilities in
which divers speak directly to guests from within exhibits,
guests can dive in the exhibits, and live feeding shows occur.
These facilities often seek employees and volunteers with
rescue-diver certification and training in first aid, CPR
and oxygen administration. Some aquariums run courses
for their staff members; for example, a facility might offer
training in hazardous marine life injuries that covers all of its
potentially dangerous animals.
Aquariums, zoos and aquatic-animal facilities
around the world employ both volunteer and paid
divers to perform a variety of jobs. In addition
to mastering standard open-water skills, divers
undergo specialized training for challenges and
techniques particular to these environments.
Getting involved may be easier than you think.
STEPHEN FRINK