Among the many exhibits at the California Science Center is a 180,000 aquarium. The health of this tank is dependent on a large crew of aquarists, veterinarians, and volunteer divers. As of this moment, 6 Barnacle Busters are members of the dive team and we’re always looking for more. The minimum certification level at CSC is Rescue diver, so, when I was asked by volunteers and staff at the aquarium to teach a Rescue Class, I agreed.

It was a struggle. After 6 years, Mother Nature decided to break her drought just in time to weather us out weekend after weekend. While we welcome the rain, it could have waited another week! Anyway, these patient students got their open water dives in bit by bit, and completed certification in mid March. Whew. They have all completed their required skill evaluations and swims for the Science Center and are ready to dive!!

And many thanks to Bob Woods, who played a convincing victim, although why he insisted on continuous mouth-to-mouth is beyond me.

I feel these divers are now better prepared to not only help others but to take care of themselves in stressful situation. Congratulations to Crystal Gentle, Billy Vaughn, Mark Yun, and Matthew Bokach. We’ll be running another Rescue Class in the summer, so get your name on the list if interested.

-Ra Buck