Anybody here volunteer for Shedd Aquarium?

[Andrew-R-Fidler]

Wasn't sure where to post this- so this is a copy of the post I placed up in the Reef Forum...

I've been in Chicago since July, and it wasn't till a few days ago that I realized that Shedd takes volunteers for diving/tank cleaning and testing assistance. Since I dive, and maintain my own reef tank (and am always yearning to upgrade to one of the REALLY big systems), figure it's right up my alley.

Before I send in the application, anyone have any suggestions/experience/comments?

Sounds like a great time, just want feed back before I give that year of commitment!

Andrew

[!SCUBA!]

Andrew,

Hi. Most large public aquariums have more volunteer divers than they can use, so generally they have a waiting list ( or short notice call list). Since they have so many volunteer divers available, they are able to ask for a commitment of some duration from the active volunteers. Often, when it's your day to dive they will need you to spend all or most of the day, so be prepared for that.

One suggestion that makes a difference is to make yourself as available (schedule wise) as possible. Another suggestion is to have excellent buoyancy and body control- divers that flail and crash, break aquarium decorations and are often not called back.

I definitely encourage you to apply! Volunteer divers are an important part of the operations of large public aquariums. Once you're "in" and prove yourself valuable it's not just fun diving, but also becoming a part of the culture or community of the public aquarium. Some possible perks are discounted or free admission, volunteer appreciation events, and opportunities to meet lots of cool people.

BTW, I know all this because I have experience as a volunteer dive coordinator in a public aquarium.

Good luck!

[scubaduderon]

At the time they needed folks who were cold water divers to clean the whale tanks. They only wanted very experienced divers who could prove through dive logs their experience level. I don't remeber the exact numbers they wanted but I was blown away by their requirements. I believe I was at about 250 dives at the time, with hundreds of in pool hours helping one of the most respected dive training groups in the country. I certainly had the experience but not the logs so it didn't work out. I should have been more diligent about logging my dives!