World Oceans Day is an
international event held every year in June to recognize and celebrate the role
of the oceans in our lives.
On Saturday, June 9, the Point Pleasant Beach First Aid Dive Team participated in a celebration of World Oceans Day, hosted by Jenkinson’s Aquarium.
Team members, all volunteer SCUBA divers, created an exhibit
focused on exploring the ocean and rivers of New Jersey. Hundreds of aquarium visitors got to see and
touch underwater artifacts, natural and manmade, that were discovered while
SCUBA diving. The display featured local
seashells, bottles, and parts of old shipwrecks.
The Aquarium also allowed the team to conduct a SCUBA diving
demonstration in the local waters exhibit, with the residents still in
there! Visitors were introduced to some
of the equipment and exposure suits that divers in New Jersey have to wear to
explore the chilly ocean. (The tank was
about 70 degrees F, not very warm, but still 10 degrees warmer that the ocean
outside in June!)
Using hand signals, one team member outside the tank
directed the two dive buddies inside to demonstrate some of the basic diving
skills that allow us to safely explore the ocean. Divers simulated a few gear problems and how
to solve them (like getting water out of your mask), as well as managing
buoyancy underwater. The near-weightless
divers could hover and flip almost as
gracefully as the seals.
The divers even challenged the children outside the tank to
two athletic events – a race and a high jump!
Even with powerful fins, we saw that a diver cannot swim through water
as fast as a child can run in air.
However, a diver can easily jump much higher (with a little help from
the water and the dive gear).
Then families always
want to take a photo with you through the glass. We have our underwater camera too. How often does an exhibit take a picture of
you?”
