The Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, CA offers a unique experience open to any certified diver – the opportunity to dive in their aquarium and swim with their huge array of sea life, including Hammerhead sharks. Michael Bear took part in the program this week, shares his experience, and tells you how you too can dive in this one-of-a-kind dive site.
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I had been to the Aquarium of the Pacific twice before to attend various citizen science conferences, but this was the first time I had ever dived in one of their marine life tanks—and, it was a very memorable experience. Having served as a volunteer diver with another aquarium, I was familiar with the basic routine of their divers, which aquariums rely on to keep things running smoothly.
Adrian Samora, the aquarium’s Media Relations Coordinator, met me at the entrance and gave me the basic tour of the various exhibits open to the public. Adrian has been the public face of the aquarium for several years and was very knowledgeable and friendly. Probably my favorite exhibit on the tour was the sea jelly tanks, where there were several species on display, most of which I was familiar with from seeing them in the San Diego area. These included the so-called ‘fried egg jelly, due to its yellow-orange color and resemblance to a fried egg yolk, as well as the awe-inspiring Purple Striped Jelly (Chrysaora colorata), which is often seen in large numbers off the coast of California and whose bell can reach up to 3 ft. in diameter.
Uniquely, diving with the Diver Immersion Experience doesn’t require any specialties or advanced certifications. The program is available to the general public and anyone with their basic Open Water certification card and 10 dives under their belt qualifies. The fee for the highly personalized experience is $299 per person ($279 for members). It’s limited to just 4 divers per day who reserve their spot by phone.
All diving equipment, including underwater cameras, are provided as part of the package. Even if you have your own gear, the aquarium prefers to provide you with their gear, due to possible issues with outside contamination. You may bring your own mask, booties and fins, as long as they have been properly rinsed and dried beforehand.
After touring the public exhibits, Adrian handed me off to Lindsay Pullin, the aquarium’s dive master and guide for my Dive Immersion Experience. Lindsay began my tour with a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of their basement facilities, where the real work of running and maintaining the aquarium takes place. It is here that various breeding tanks are maintained, out of the public view, so that professional aquarists can breed species like sea jellies and sea horses, and keep other exotic species which might not be ready for public exhibit. In one tank, a pregnant male was ready to give birth in one of the tanks. Male Sea horses bear the burden of giving birth, unlike most other species and the newly hatched babies are pretty cute.
We stopped and talked to one of the aquarists, Kylie Lev, who described how she went about her daily job of providing the biological support system for the various species of fish in the aquarium.
Then came to part I had come for: the Diver Immersion program.
We went up to the aquarium’s diving locker, where all my gear had been thoughtfully laid out, and I was shown a locker to put my clothes in. There was also a chart posted on the wall so that I could familiarize myself with the various species of tropical marine life I would encounter in the tank.
Once suited up, Lindsay gave me a thorough briefing about the tank we were going to dive in, the best way in and the best way out. I was advised to stay facing the acrylic windows as much as possible, to avoid accidentally scratching the surface with my steel tank – an instruction I was familiar with from my prior diving experience at the California Science Center. We went over the various diver signals we’d be using on the dive and she took me into the diver entrance to the tank. We did a brief buoyancy check, I turned on my Go Pro camera and then we glided down into the water.
It took me a few minutes to get used to my equipment and establish neutral buoyancy because I was used to diving with much more weight and a much thicker wetsuit. Since the water is nearly 80 F., we were wearing only thin 3mm ‘skins’ and much less weight.
Once we were in the tank, I found myself immediately surrounded by dozens of species of brightly-colored tropical fish. None of them seemed the least bothered by my presence, presumably because they were used to having divers in the tank with them.
As I followed Lindsay through the tank, the first exotic fish which caught my attention was the rather bizarre-looking Napoleon Wrasse, also known as the Humphead Wrasse (Cheilinus undulatus) which I had only seen once before in the wild in Bonaire. It can grow to enormous size, up to 6 ft. Long and is known for the large hump which is a prominent feature of its forehead. It seemed to suspend itself in the water and swim lazily along, completely unperturbed by my presence as I swam up to it with my Go Pro camera.
Then, to my delight, I looked over near where Lindsay was, and saw a small Hammerhead shark gliding over the top of some rocks, heading in my direction. I had no idea there were would be any sharks in the tank with us prior to the Diver Immersion Experience, so it was definitely a pleasant surprise. At the time, I assumed it was a juvenile, but I later learned that this species of Hammerhead (Sphyrna tiburo), called the Bonnethead shark which rarely grows beyond 3-4 ft. and that this was actually an adult.
I made a beeline for it and, as he saw me coming towards him, he veered about 90 degrees and a I followed alongside, video camera rolling. This was the first time I’d ever dived with Hammerheads and I was in hog heaven.
Next, Lindsay directed my gaze to an absolutely enormous Mangrove sting ray, chillin’ on the bottom. The body had to have been 3 ft. across and it had a 2 ft. long stinger. I approached with caution, and hovered over it, filming, being sure to give it wide berth in case it wanted to leave and move elsewhere—I didn’t want it to feel trapped or cornered.
Next on the list of things Lindsay wanted to show me was the beautiful and exotic Zebra shark (Stegostoma fasciatum), sometimes known in Australia as a Leopard shark—not to be confused with the Southern California species with the same common name.
Its sleek body, black spots and alien-looking head make it appear like something you’d see in a science fiction movie. But, it’s really a beautiful shark and it glided effortlessly down to the bottom where it took its place along its companion Zebra shark. I decided then and there, that it was going to be my new favorite shark species.
Next, we glided down to some rocks where a Spotted Moray lived. These speckled beauties are similar to the Moray eels we have in Southern California, but are distinguished by black and white speckles covering their body.
As mentioned earlier, there were also countless species of colorful, tropical fish all around us the whole time, many of whom I had never seen before or didn’t know the names for. Some, though, I remember seeing in Bonaire, such as the exotic looking Angelfish and Parrotfish.
There were also a couple of small Barracuda, which flitted in and out of our area, seeming to be oblivious to our presence.
All too soon, it was time to terminate the dive after about 45 minutes. I really didn’t want to get out!
There was one final surprise awaiting me. As we headed towards the diver entrance, I prepared to sit on the underwater ledge where divers remove their fins. I hadn’t been there more than 30 seconds when I noticed extremely large, dark shadow moving around in the space on the other side, just where I had been ready sit down to remove my fins. To my shock, one of the large, black tropical stingrays, quietly lifted up and brushed by me at chin level before I could sit on him—I moved back quickly to give him plenty of room. Lindsay just chuckled as said something like, ‘Oh, that’s just our Mangrove Ray–he likes to hang out there.’
I quickly recovered from my shock and laughed along with her—my laughter a few octaves higher than I might have intended—but, I figured if Lindsay wasn’t alarmed, I shouldn’t be either. I asked her if their stingers were ‘live’ and she said they were, but they made sure to keep them ‘trimmed,’ sort of like fingernails. Ah, good to know!
We climbed out of the water and I thanked Lindsay for a truly memorable experience. The dive team and staff were extremely knowledgeable and professional, and I would recommend without hesitation Aquarium of the Pacific’s Diver Immersion program to anyone who would like an up close and personal experience with exotic, tropical marine life.
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Words and Photos by Mike Bear, California Diver Magazine
Mike is the President of Ocean Sanctuaries, a non-profit organization dedicated to collecting crowd-sourced data from collaborative non-professionally trained individuals to observe ocean life.
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How you can dive in the Aquarium of the Pacific with the Diver Immersion Program
The Diver Immersion Program is available to any certified scuba diver with at least 10 dives under their belt. It’s a unique, one-of-a-kind experience open to a limited number of divers each session.
During the dive, you’ll explore their 350,000-gallon Tropical Reef Habitat and meet more than 600 tropical fish up close and personal. In this two and a half hour experience, you get a personal behind-the-scenes tour of their dive program, a dive in their largest exhibit, a certificate of completion, souvenir towel, use of an underwater camera, and a memory card of your photos to take home. You may also bring your own underwater camera. All dive equipment is provided. A minimum of an Open Water certification from a nationally recognized scuba certifying agency and a picture I.D. are required and must be brought with you on your diving day.
The program is limited to just 4 participants each day. Reservations must be made at least 24 hours in advance by calling 562-590-3100, ext. 0. Walk-ups will be accepted only if the program is already booked that day and space is available. Cancellation fees apply.
Please click here for more information: https://www.aquariumofpacific.org/education/info/dive_immersion/