A day in the Life: Aquarium diver

Matt Vecchio - 

Bubbles swirl past the lens of my camera as a stingray rushes by. Elysa Leonard, clad in a wetsuit, diving gear, and a tank with 3,000 pounds of compressed air, extends her arm, offering a dead fish to the ray. The slender ray angles toward the meal, quickly snatches it, and darts away, trailing its long, barbed tail. Leonard smiles under her diving mask — this is her time.

Leonard is one of nearly 300 volunteers who give two days of their time every month to dive into the tanks of the National Aquarium in Baltimore. The divers are split into teams, 14 in all, and one team is on duty each day. Their main responsibility includes feeding the animals in the tanks, but they also do some minimal cleaning and maintenance. Quite a different experience than Leonard’s day job as an ad-rep for the Times-Mirror.

To get a feel for what Leonard’s day entails, I grabbed my gear and headed out to Baltimore on Jan. 22.

Following the hour-long drive, I found parking and headed to the waterfront, as the looming aquarium appeared to grow in size with each step—the newly added, glass-heavy Australia exhibit gleaming in the morning sunlight. Leonard met me outside near the boats bordering the aquarium, and we headed in the service entrance.

Leonard led me through a maze of tunnels, explaining how the aquarium works and what the diver’s responsibilities are. We saw how the animals’ food is made in the kitchen and where unique animals, like the octopus, are kept prior to joining an exhibit. Then we headed topside to get a feel for the aquarium before the crowd’s arrived.

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Photo Matt Vecchio

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