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 I recently started a part time job as a Diver at The Deep.
There are four part time divers, all from our club. Our role
is to supplement the existing Aquarist staff over the weekend,
to enable more work to be done in the tanks, to comply with
HSE regulations.
On my first day, I had to read and sign a whole host of
documents, including risk assessments, action plans and
scenarios, all relating to diving in the 3 large tanks at the
attraction. This included such information as how many people
needed to be involved in each type of diving operation, such
as cleaning or feeding. This changes depending on the risk
involved, i.e. whether you are cleaning the Northern Seas
tank, or feeding the Sand Tiger Sharks in the Endless Oceans
tank.
Apparently there is more risk of a bite from a shark than a
crazed Halibut, but what do I know?
Having signed my life away, and learnt what to do should I
have my arm ripped off, it was down to work. Although my job
title is "Diver" there is actually very little
diving involved, accounting for about 1/8th of the working
day. There is a daily routine to be followed, starting with a
trip from top to bottom of the attraction, cleaning the
acrylic viewing windows, before the public arrive. The smaller
aquariums then need to be checked, and any algae removed from
inside the tanks. Then there is the food preparation.
The day before, a variety of fish are removed from the cold
store to defrost overnight. The food is then divided up
between tanks and cut to the relevant size for the mouths it
feeds. A typical menu consists of squid, sprats or sand eels,
mackerel, whiting, and shrimp. To this is added vitamin
supplements, for each species of fish in the relevant tanks.
Feeding in the main tanks is carried out over the course of
the day at 2-3 hourly intervals.
Once the food is prepared, it is clean up time. All
surfaces are cleaned down, then sterilised, to prevent the
place stinking of rotting fish! Not that it smells too good
before hand either.
Once the attraction opens, we have a short meeting to
discuss what jobs are required for the day, and who will do
them. This generally involves
 cleaning of various equipment
and other aquariums in the quarantine area. This is the main work area for the Aquarists. There are a
number of smaller glass tanks, which house new and sick fish
in isolation, prior to them joining the exhibits. Larger tanks
are kept in readiness for any animals that require removal
from the exhibit at any time.
There are also tanks housing jellyfish, which the attraction
is trying to grow and display, not an easy task. There is
"live" food for certain species, mainly several
different varieties of shrimp, which need to be housed and fed
prior to them becoming the dish of the day.
Part of this area is given over to "making"
seawater. This is quite a complex process, but results in
seawater ready to top up tanks, being held in a large cistern.
All tanks are connected to this by an intricate series of
pipes, which would not look out of place in a power station.
I was also shown round the plant room housing the attractions
filter system. This is extremely complex, and whilst I tried
to take it all in, all that stuck in my mind was the advice
" if that big red light starts flashing, and the alarm
goes…….run!" Apparently this is the control system
for reedox, or Ozone- used to sterilise water.
Finally I get to go diving. The job today is to clean the
corals with a nylon brush, the same as you would normally find
with a dustpan. The corals in the main tank "Endless
Oceans" are plastic, fitted on plugs screwed into the
concrete "rocks". They do look very effective
underwater, especially from the other side of the window.
Whilst all the water is filtered to remove detritus, excrement
from the fish settles on the bottom, and covers all the corals
in a brown slimy coating. This needs to be removed by
brushing, which puts it back into the water column, and then
is removed by the filter system. Another method of cleaning
the gravel on the floor of the tank is to use a glorified vacuum cleaner.
I spend just over an hour in the 26-degree water, scrubbing
away, and occasionally waving at small children transfixed
against the window  (more cleaning!!!) looking at this strange
addition to the fish, and no doubt wondering if they will see
a limb removed by the circling sharks!
I was reminded of an early scene in Deep Blue Sea, the diver
with a full face mask swimming in a large concrete tank,
surrounded by sharks. This diver was only armed with a
selection of cleaning materials though, not a harpoon!
The Deep is a fascinating place to work, not just for the
visual stimulation of the various fish species, but also to
see the inner workings and complex operations involved to keep
it running. And then there is the diving, which sure beats the
long drive on a wet motorway to West Yorkshire, for the rest
of the week!
Chris Storey
10/11/2003
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