405_April_24

litres of water which is filtered at a rate of 1000 litres per second, and is home to rays, sharks, turtles, fishes and countless small aquatic creatures. Most of the people I meet in the park seem to be keen to learn and want to know more about our marine life. Many are just so excited to see the animals we work with. Generally, people are super keen and interested, which is great, as my passion lies with the animals and creating a greater understanding of the challenges they face in this time of overfishing and global warming. Fortunately, the kids that I meet are super keen to learn and demonstrate to me that the younger next generation is caring for our environment, in some way, shape, or form, or at least wanting to. Most days we are cleaning the lagoons, feeding and looking after the animals all day. How does it feel to be able to help rescue sick or injured animals? I also enjoy the variety in my job. Sometimes we go out to the seaway or coastal beaches and rescue injured or sick marine creatures, especially turtles who often get hooked on fishing tackle or become ill from plastics ingestion. We sometimes do these rescues on our own time. For example, just before Christmas, local divers sent us photos of a very sick turtle who had come up to them for assistance, before swimming off when the diver was trying to cut out a hook from which was painful. We were able to find her again on boxing day and take her back to Sea World for veterinary treatment. This was very satisfying, and we didn't mind coming in on our day off to help a sick animal as we love doing what we can to help them return to good health, so we can release them back into the wild when they are strong again. And we have to be strong to catch them as they are often upward of 100 kilos, so it sure is a good workout. We grab them at the top of the shell near the neck and the tail end of the shell, to lift them up, then bring them to the surface straightaway, because it can be quite stressful for them and the first thing they want to do is to take a breath. We rely on the public to let us know that there's animals that need help and then we do our best to get out there and help them. It's usually a team effort to catch and contain a turtle, or injured animal, but when you’ve got one to safety, it’s always very satisfying and wholesome. Another community project the Sea World team and I enjoy is hosting cleanup dives at the Gold Coast Seaway. It’s an important community activity as it allows the public to actually see how much debris is left behind by the hundreds of fishermen who go there every day. The amount we collect in

the cleanups is insane, considering it gets cleaned by divers every month. On our last cleanup dive, our crew and local dive volunteers removed over 98kilos of fishing line, hooks and sinkers! Most of the Shark Bay crew volunteer at the cleanups and enjoy being part of a really positive environmental project, along with the fun of seeing what comes out of the ocean to make it safer for the creatures that live there. What suggestions do you have for girls who love diving and who want to get a job in any industry? Just keep going. Just keep pushing. Keep skilling up. Just keep proving your worth to whoever it is that makes the employment or training decisions. Gaining accreditation for more skills is the best way to go, because it shows that you are super keen, and that you have the ability to learn new skills. If you have passion, just do it. Just keep going. Don't let anyone stop you doing what you want to do just because they think it's the wrong way for you to go and then one day you'll get where you want to go. And you can start by volunteering. While I was at school, I volunteered at the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary Hospital and that gave me more experience over a broader base of species which gave me a competitive advantage over others, who may have applied for positions I wanted. I enjoyed being an animal ambulance driver for injured wildlife and paralysis as I gave me the opportunity to do the best I could for as many animals as possible. This led me into the most wonderful and rewarding job beyond my wildest dreams, so start volunteering and start soon.

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DIVE LOG Australasia #405 - April ‘24