How about this great story about an 84 year old aquarium diver? An inspiration to all.
Once a month, Irby Hartley gives his scuba gear the once-over. A life-long diver, he was thrilled when the Tennessee Aquarium came to town. “I said wow, I would like to be able to do that and not have to to all over the world to do it,” laughs Hartley.
As a volunteer, Hartley can keep up his scuba skills, keep down the cost of his hobby and keep Chattanooga’s top tourist attraction clean all at the same time. He and 180 other divers scrub the coral and wipe down the windows while watching out for the danger lurking nearby. The saltwater tank is filled with several different kinds of sharks. “They (safety divers) have a pipe, a plastic pipe we call a bump stick that sort of puts up a portable fence and shows them that this is our territory,” says Hartley. “And hopefully they won’t come in there and we haven’t had any problems, they’ve learned to respect that.”
This sounds like an interesting activity in general – letting the public help out with aquarium cleaning! This would be a great way to experience the aquarium from a whole different perspective.
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