405_April_24

Introducing… Nikita Retsas

N ikita Retsas is a Marine Education Officer at Sea World in Queensland Australia and has logged 10,450 minutes diving with amazing sea creatures, and is living the dream as a Commercial Diver on the Gold Coast. Nikita was born in South Australia and did not have any interest in exploring the ocean until she and the family moved to the warm waters of the Gold Coast when she was 11. Although her parents weren’t beach lovers, the blue waters of the coastal surf beaches proved very attractive to young Nikita. Being so close to clean and clear waters, her love of the ocean was cultivated when she joined nippers and started to learn how to feel at home in the surf and to be safe in its many moods. It wasn't long until she donned her mask and snorkeled for the first time in Tallebudgera Creek, near Burleigh Heads, and from there, her connection to the ocean grew. In year 10 of high school, Nikita was keen to sign on for marine studies and that’s when the fun really started. One day a week she and her classmates would hit the water, going on excursions such as fishing, kayaking, surfing, sailing and freediving - all in school time. She really felt a new connection with the ocean when freediving and loved the feel of being streamlined, and a part of nature as opposed to being on the outside and looking in. Then, in year 12 she had the opportunity to learn to scuba dive at Tweed Sea Sports with Peter Comerford, a local diving legend. Peter taught her how to slow down underwater, to feel relaxed, and be calm. Nikita shared her thoughts on how diving bought peace to her life. “Although there was always stuff going on in my busy life and my mind felt a little crazy, the moment I hit the water, it was all gone, and I was surrounded by peace, beauty and amazing life”. When I graduated from school, I knew I wanted to do something with animals, marine or terrestrial, so I enrolled at Griffith University in a Bachelor of Science, with a double major in Marine and Wildlife Biology. Initially, it was just a marine biology major, but obviously this field is quite difficult to get into, so I thought I'd make it a bit broader and do wildlife as well as precaution. But it worked out really well, as I had a head start with my Marine Studies at school, so I was well on my way. Then Covid hit and we couldn't go anywhere, so I got stuck into Marine Biology and smashed out the courses. We did a trip to the Heron Island research station and lived on the island with the animals, which was amazing! In my last year of uni, I started a Work Integrated Learning placement at Sea World recording behavioural observations of

animals for a PhD student in Sydney, and I believe the data was used to inform welfare improvements for the animals in the aquarium, so that was really interesting. I spent 13 weeks watching the animals go about their day and before long patterns and behaviours started emerging which were of interest to the researcher and me. My supervisors were so happy with my interest, willingness to volunteer and my work ethic that they offered me a job at Sea World in the Marine Division, which was wonderful as places are hard to come by and keenly contested. How did you score such a wonderful job? I got the job in Shark Bay because I volunteered there before I graduated. My first role was in education and involved running tours and talks, educating the public on marine life and what's good and bad for them and what they can do to help. Soon after, I was offered the opportunity to train as a commercial diver and signed on for my first commercial dive courses: The Aquarium diver course to 20m followed by the Part 1 Scientific Diver course to 30m, which I loved! There's so many more options and pathways you can follow in diving, such as scientific (maintenance diving), commercial or offshore diving qualifications, but for now, I'm very happy where I am as I want to stay with animals and marine life and the more

scientific side of reef (marine) conservation. What does a day in your office look like?

In education, I run interpretive tours in a variety of exhibits for school groups, international tourists, families and locals - every day is different. I guide visitors through amazing exhibits, such as Shark Bay our amazing 60m aquarium which holds 6 million

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DIVE LOG Australasia #405 - April ‘24

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