“So try to keep away from the sharks...”
Well duh.
“...because if you corner them they might knock themselves
out on the tank while running away.”
Er, what?
“But they aren’t that dangerous. The Southern Rays do have
quite a dangerous Neurotoxin though...”
Ahah!
“Mind you they’re pretty relaxed around people. Simon trod
on one accidently last week and it didn’t sting him”.
Oh.
“We’ve got twenty-six Lionfish in the tank too and they’re
poisonous, but they just think you’re in there to feed them, so shoo them away
with your brush if they get annoying.”
Right.
“Watch out for the Puffer Fish too. He’s not aggressive but
he does have a strong beak if you get too close. We think he ate the Moray
Eels.”
He....what?
“Any questions?”
So here we are, it’s a Tuesday night at Chessington World of Adventures and
students from Kingston University Sub
Aqua Sports Club (KUSAC) are ready to
help clean the Shark Tank.
 |
| Shark! |
Now when people find out that we do this they often ask two
very sensible questions;
“They take the sharks out first right?
And when we answer no, it is usually followed by;
“Are you mad?”
Well... probably! I’m a SCUBA diver and a SCUBA instructor
and us divers – well we love sharks.
FUN SHARK FACT
Annual deaths by shark
attack: 5-15
Annual
deaths by cow attacks: 100+
No Daisy, stop, no no
no aaaaagh!!
But that’s the thing isn’t it. When was the last time you
saw a show called “When Cows Attack”. Personally, I blame Spielberg.
So here we are looking forward to an hour or so of scrubbing
rocks and washing the algae from the inside of the viewing windows. Partly so
that we can be privileged enough to get close to these creatures, an experience
uncommon for SCUBA divers in these overfished days and partly so we can help
ensure that others can as well.
We change into our diving gear at the side of the tank – you
must be completely covered for these sessions in case you brush up against a
lionfish. On the side, we have first aid and emergency oxygen trained staff in
case of problems. Inside the tank we’ll have each other to rely on and a brush
to shoo stuff away with. It’s easy to be nervous. I’m pretty sure the US Army
shark repellent isn’t a budget toilet brush from Wilkinson.
Once we’re in, we’ll be walking around the tank, as the tank
isn’t very big and the finning makes the sharks nervy. It’s diving the way granddad used to do it. We get a
few minutes to take underwater pictures and then it’s time to scrub, siphon and
shine. It turns out that it’s pretty much the same as cleaning the fish tank at
home - only bigger.
 |
| Cleaning the shark tank at Chessington World of Adventures |
In the meantime we get to watch tropical fish shoal around
us, watch Rays glide overhead and shoo away pesky Lionfish. The Horned Shark
skulks around trying to get in the way and a Striped Moray Eel pokes its head
out of a hole, alive for now and presumably scared that I might be a greedy
Pufferfish.
It’s hard work, but someone’s got to be lucky enough to do
it.
Shark tank cleaning is
open to members of KUSAC who are Sports Diver qualified (or equivalent) and
higher.
 |
| Kingston University student Matt in the shark tank at Chessington World of Adventures |
Since the writing of
this article, I can confirm that the Moray Eels are now all gone. May they rest
in Pufferfish.
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