Scuba With Bill

The Oregon Coast Aquarium is offering a class for intermediate scuba divers. “Marine Ecology for the Wet and Wild” offers a chance for divers to experience the aquarium’s Passages of the Deep exhibit, home to hundreds of marine animals. The class will be Saturday, July 22 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and includes a review of the 13 major groups of invertebrates inhabiting Northwest waters.

“We won’t be diving with the sharks,” said Vallorie Hodges, dive safety officer at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. “But we’ll be right up close to many common and some uncommon Pacific Northwest fishes and invertebrates.” Hodges said this is the ideal place for divers to learn about marine life because “You would have to log many hours diving in the open water of the Oregon Coast to find and identify the marine life you will see in one dive at the aquarium.”

Aquarium offers marine ecology for intermediate scuba divers

Yup, it’s true! As part of their “Oceans 2006: A Year of Exploring,” the Monterey Bay Aquarium is planning to add new podcasts twice each month.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Has Started Podcasting - Divester

The world’s largest aquarium has added two of the world’s largest fish.

Two female whale sharks - Alice and Trixie - arrived late Saturday at the Georgia Aquarium.

They joined the aquarium’s two male whale sharks, Ralph and Norton, in their 6 million-gallon tank. The four sharks are the only ones of their kind on display outside of Asia.

AP Wire | 06/04/2006 | Georgia Aquarium adds two female whale sharks

It’s getting so you can swim with sharks in virtually every aquarium - or so it seems. Bangkok’s new aquarium came complete with a swimming with sharks feature, which I mentioned a few months ago - and now Kuala Lumpur’s Aquaria is offering you the chance to get up close and personal with our toothsome friends. There is a article from the Malaysia Star newspaper that describes a non-diving journalist’s experience of trying to dive in the shark aquarium tank - unfortunately he couldn’t get below the surface as he kept panicking. Oh well, at least he got to see the sharks from above if nothing else.

Swim With Sharks In Kuala Lumpur Aquarium - divehappy.com: Scuba Diving In Thailand and South East Asia

The new show delivers a stadium full of new effects and orchestral music to dramatize what one reviewer has called “a killer whale ballet.” But the biggest difference from old Shamu shows may be that Believe is as much about the trainers as the whales.

The 30-minute show mixes a tale about a young boy who dreams of killer whales, with the real, first-person stories told by SeaWorld’s trainers.

To do so, the trainers increase their roles in the show, adding higher jumps, deeper plunges, longer swims and acrobatic diving. Then they climb out and tell the crowd their personal stories — giving what they call their testimonies.

‘Believe’ debuts at SeaWorld

One of the cool things about large aquariums is that somebody has to clean them and feed the fishies.

Aliya the Beluga whale has learned to blow bubble rings and is entertaining guests at a Japanese aqarium.

Although the story seems a little hyped up, it looks like the Bangkok Aquarium is now allowing divers to dive in the aquarium as part of their Deep Ocean exhibit. The reason I say hyped-up is because many other aquariums let you dive with sharks, Disney World Epcot being one so while this may be a new attraction for Bangkok, it’s certainly not as amazing as they try to make it sound.

Regardless, it may be something Bangkok divers might want to slip into their next visit to the Land of Smiles.

Hat tip to DiveHappy

When couples promise each other for better or for worse, they probably don’t think the “for worse” part could happen as soon as the wedding ceremony. But Barbra Anderson and Jason Skubitz took that chance when they got married in the shark tank at the Mall of America’s Underwater Adventures aquarium on Valentine’s Day.

More . . .

Santa dove into the shark tank at the Aquarium of the Pacific hoping to get kids interested in marine life. In addition to seeing Santa, children watched as other animals were treated to special holiday treats, including icy candy canes and cookies.

Read it here.