Blue Planet PADI Shark Awareness Course

[Bantam]

Mrs Bantam got me an excellent birthday present back in February (something I'd been meaning to look at but she got in there first!).

After stopping Saturday night at the Holiday Inn in Ellesmere Port (can highly recommend - it's just near the boat museum and has it's own pool / gym!) I went on Sunday 29th to the Blue Planet Aquarium which is just by the Cheshire Oaks shopping complex, not far down the road from Chester Zoo.

The place looks quite small from the outside, but appearances are deceptive! Mrs B dropped me off at about 9:15am and was greeted by Rob who was the course instructor. He was ably assisted by Debs (I think My memory for names is atrocious). I unloaded the dive gear from the car into reception and the Mrs took the little ones off to Chester Zoo for the day. They'd be coming back later to specate about 4-ish.

(NB - I took all my own gear, however, you can rent kit from the aquarium - most people took advantage of renting their tanks to save using their own).

There was a group of 10 (myself included) who were doing the course. People had come from all over the country (Leeds / Heathrow / Brighton and Wales) so it was quite a mixed group!

We were taken down to the restaurant for a coffee before moving through to the auditorium where the massive viewing window is for a quick introduction session and a short tour through the tunnel. It's strange to see the tank before the lights come on. Keeping the fish asleep for longer is a good thing. We were just leaving the tunnel as the lights started to come on.

(BTW - Ever wondered how they get the ripples on the surface of large aquariums? Lots of huge fans )

We were taken up to a classroom and Rob went through the elements of the course. We covered quite alot of shark biology. It helps to dispel the myths of sharks, such as if they stop moving do they suffocate? (The answer depends on the species and their method of ventilation).

Luckily I'd done some degree level biology so I understood some of the lower level things which were discussed - such as K versus R strategy for reproduction and so on. If there was anything I could level at this course which was negative is that I think we rushed through quite alot of the biology stuff very quickly. I appreciate there's loads to cover in a short space of time. The only other thing that could have been useful would be handouts of the powerpoint presentation used as there was so much information if you were so inclined you could revisit it and thus gain more about it. Even for us to get them e-mailed / zip file / download from website possibly?

The shark teeth identification was quite useful too! Helped me confirm that the teeth Digger and I (plus quite a few others of you too I think) picked up in the fossil beds off Selsey are indeed Sand Tiger teeth. (BTW - these teeth have now been positively dated to between 45 and 50Ma !!)

However, the information was clear, concise and informative. Rob is clearly a man who knows an awful lot about sharks and conservation. The section on Ecology and Conservation is gut-wrenchingly sad. The statistics of what the hell we are doing to the shark population should make most governments (especially some southern european ones who are the biggest shark finners in the world) sit up and listen, but they're not, and that's a dire and sad situation. If ever I wasn't a flag bearer for shark conservation before this has definitely opened my eyes now.

A well laid on lunch and some free time to wander round the aquarium was great. A few of us watched them hand feeding the sand tigers before heading back to the classroom.

We then covered a good section on how to dive with sharks safely (I think next time I go to South Africa it's somthing I'm definitely going to try and do), and went on to the pre-dive brief. Rob explained about some of the other species of fish we might encounter in the tank, and also proper etiquette on doing the dive (no touching any animal etc..)

Essentially we were walking in the tank, not finning. This helps them keep a close control on us whilst we are in the aquarium. To achieve this they need us to be heavily negative. I dived in my Neoprene Drysuit with a 20Kg weightbelt. That felt heavy, however, it was strange picking up my BC which usually has twin 12's on the back of it. Felt unnervingly light!

There was three groups - two groups of 4 and one group of 2. I was in the second group of four, so I was able to wander off for a bit and find my Missus who was watching the diving demonstration in the auditorium, and looking a bit sunburnt after a day at chester zoo

We saw the first group wandering around and then were called back upstairs to kit up.

Whilst sitting on the edge of the tank I was expecting to feel nervous, but I think learning about the animals helps keep you in check. It makes you in awe of them and respect them, and if you know how to deal with them they won't even worry about you.

We dropped down the steps one by one and kneeled on the bottom to settle down a little.

We stayed there for a little while to let everyone get accustomed to their weight / sharks / other fish, and generally have a good look around. Then in single file we moved around the tank slowly. We stopped three times in total, and most of the time we were kneeling down in these three spots, watching the sharks cruise over our heads, trickling grains of sand on the backs of the parrotfish and triggerfish who love to be tickled by the grains on their scales.

Ducking as the larger sand tiger threatens to give you a flat top!



(Sorry for the poor Q Vidcap )

I made a friend of a triggerfish (looks like a parrotfish with more fins);



And all in all it was an awesome experience. The sharks are beautiful and elegant, and the place is a brilliant aquarium. They have breeding programmes and they're one of the only places who have successfully bred Southern Stingrays in Europe! In fact, they're having to keep 'Randy' the male out of the main tank at the moment because he's so virile!! Too many baby stingrays!

So thumbs up to the peeps at the Blue Planet. Something I really would do every day if I could!! I heartily recommend it to anyone!




Mark.

P.S - The water temp was 21 Degrees C and it vairies - in the winter it can get down to 18 Degrees C and in the summer anything up to 25-ish.

[cheryl t]

Excellent report matey. In depth and lots of useful info. The pics are great too. Would love to be able to do this but just cannot afford it at the mo.

[Bantam]

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