Virginia Aquarium Volunteer Dive Team

[weaponeer]

Hello all,

Divers who live in the Hampton Roads area and who are not aware that the Virginia Aquarium in Virginia Beach, VA has a volunteer dive team may be missing out on an opportunity to do some volunteer work and at the same time get to practice their dive skills each month in aquarium tanks.

If you want more information about the Dive Team or learn what the requirements are to participate, you can contact the Aquarium’s Volunteer Services office at (757) 385-0274, Monday - Friday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m, and they will put you in touch with a Dive Team member who can answer your questions. If you'd like to electronically submit an application to join the team, go to https://www.volgistics.com/ex/portal.dll/ap?AP=1097615613. Dive Team tryouts in 2008 will happen in the Spring, Fall and Winter. The Spring tryout will be in March.

Thanks for your time.

 

[weaponeer]

A few items to add to this notice -

At a minimum, a diver must be 18 years old, have completed 10 open water dives and be AOW certified (validated by c-card examination) to join the team.

Thanks for your time, and hope to see applications for the March 2008 tryout.

 

[GSDMan]

Just curious about the AOW requirement. Is there some specialty needed that I'm not aware of or is it just a commitment to training they're looking for?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[weaponeer]

Just curious about the AOW requirement. Is there some specialty needed that I'm not aware of or is it just a commitment to training they're looking for?

Thanks,
Jim

Hi Jim,

Good question. I am a dive team member, and I don't recall seeing any specific specialty being needed within the AOW cert requirement. As you suggest, I believe it's more a demonstration of diver training beyond the basic certification which also shows a higher level of diving proficency and confidence than what would be expected of a new diver. Granted, diving a tank poses fewer hazards than open water, but there is also less risk of accident or injury when an experienced diver is involved.

 

[GSDMan]

Granted, diving a tank poses fewer hazards than open water . . .

True, true, but let's not forget we're also talking about a very small, self contained ecosystem, of sorts, and as such I would imagine it would be terribly fragile, too. Do they have the same rule as the Baltimore Aquarium about only using their equipment to prevent contamination (like a disease or some critter that just doesn't belong)?

See, I actually thought about it before opening my yap this time! Uh huh, uh huh, who da man now?

When I can scrape up the cash to buy a Super Duper Diver Card (PADI AOW) I may just apply. It sounds really cool!

Jim

 

[weaponeer]

Jim,

Diving a tank vice open water definitely requires better control. That's one reason for try-outs. You'll have to demonstrate some basic skills including bouyancy control. Once accepted to the team, there is specific aquarium training that must be completed prior to being placed on the active diver roster. In addition, every diver must be adult CPR and basic first aid certified within 3 months of joining the team, and maintain their annual certification to stay on the active roster.

Unlike the Baltimore aquarium, Virginia Aquarium divers must provide their own gear, except for air tanks, which the aquarium provides. Wetsuits must be 3mm fulls or better, with hoods and gloves worn on every dive. Regs and BCDs must have annual inspections. The premise for using your own gear is that it must be thoroughly dry before diving any tank to ensure that no living ocean organisms are transferred to a tank. If you've never been to the Virginia Aquarium, it has 4 tanks, with a 5th one under construction. They are, the Chesapeake Bay aquarium, with local bay fishes; the Light Tower aquarium, with turtles; the Norfolk Canyon aquarium, with rays and sharks; and the Seal habitat, with, you guessed it, seals. I'm not sure what the new 5th tank will consist of.

 

[telemonster]

Doesn't AOW require more than 10 open water dives? Is it possible to hold a AOW card with less?

 

[weaponeer]

Doesn't AOW require more than 10 open water dives? Is it possible to hold a AOW card with less?

The requirement isn't 10 total dives, it's 10 open water dives in the past year, verifiable by logbook entries. Sorry about the confusion.

You're also right about needing more than 10 dives for AOW. I think I needed 24 for my SSI AOW.

 

[bvmjethead]

Thanks! I do not have AOW yet but I signed up anyway.

 

[telemonster]

It does sound like quite a bit of fun. When I looked at it before I think the time was during the day, and since I work for a small company and we are a pretty tight team I think it would be hard to commit to be late on certain mornings. I'm always hopping between data centers and what not.

Very cool. Perhaps in the future!