After completing a series of written tests, in-water skills tests, and interviews, I found out last month that I was accepted to join the volunteer scuba diving team at the National Aquarium in Baltimore.

This is a group of very dedicated volunteers (some volunteers have dived the Aquarium for up to 29 years!) that boast a high degree of diving expertise and a deep commitment to the marine conservation work being done at the Aquarium. I’m proud and excited to join the team—to get to know the volunteers, veterinarians, aquarists, marine biologists, educators, and sealife at NAIB, and to broaden my understanding of the underwater world.

I know from my own Web searches that there is a lot of curiosity out there with respect to this program and others like it. ScubaBoard is regularly attended by people with questions, stories, and opinions regarding the volunteer program at NAIB.

So I am now dedicating this blog to my ongoing underwater adventures, and I hope to concentrate—for now at least—on the NAIB volunteer diver program. I begin my dry training in just a few weeks, and I plan to start regularly getting wet within a month or so.

Peace,

Jeff

photos: Eddie Arrossi, Declan McCullagh, Erin Shay, Sabine Scherer