Posted by kelphead on October 09, 2000 at 11:51:46:
In Reply to: Re: LB Aquarium ... volunteering? posted by RAP on October 08, 2000 at 20:51:37:
1) the divers i know are concerned about the welfare
of the watery world and are interested in at least
conserving it for future enjoyment; the aq helps
to educate others, who are not as familiar w/the
waters as some divers are, about the marine ecosystem and
its importance to BOTH the aquatic creatures that
reside there as well as to us (ie, the kelp forests
are an important part of our economy and it's not just
'save the fishes'); the aq staff teaches people why
it's so important to make sure oceans/waterways
should be kept clean and pollution free.
2) many kids come through wanting to interview
us volunteers or wanting to do some sort of class
write-up b/c they dream of one day becoming marine
biologists; the aq provides a relatively large facility
to satisfy southern californians who have missed out
while others around the country have enjoyed and learned at other
aq'a in far off places (ie, san diego, monterey,
chicago, baltimore, etc). yes, we have always
had the cabrillo and ucla aq'a, but they are very small
and cannot cater to large masses at one time.
the 'lbaop' can accommodate more people and
exhibits, though; it is a relatively large facility
that accommodates the thirst that apparently has
existed in socal for wanting to learn about our
marine environment.
3) volunteering is a HUGE part of the aq and helps
to defray very high costs that would be needed
to actually pay us volunteers to work there. the
'worthy cause' is in helping an organization
(any organization) that wouldn't be able to be
succeed w/o the free help given by community
members; we range from high school students to
retired seniors, w/stay-at-home moms in btwn, who
devote time and their creative resources to help
make the 'lbaop' a success w/o having it increase
its cost of operations.
4) since the dive industry bitches and moans about
there not being enough divers to satisfy profits,
divers in the aq exhibits enchant the kids, who
can be seen as potential future divers. i've personally
been encouraging little kids to consider learning
how to dive when they are older and encouraging them
to come back and help clean our exhibits for us.
this can be seen as a way to teach kids--and adults--
about diving (some want to know how can a person
breathe while underwater, some want to know how
can the diver speak to us through the window while
underwater, etc, etc).
5) the volunteer divers who do come in to the aq
get to take FREE!! classes to broaden their horizons
and they even get to learn scientific techniques;
perhaps this may encourage some of those same voluteer
divers to become more active in the marine sciences;
they also get to feed fish, something that may not
always be possible in the open water on a rec dive,
so they can have some fun of their own while doing
the much needed work.
i don't know about anyone else, but i think there
are a ton of reasons why volunteering at ANY aq
is a 'worthy cause'.
just my 2cents.
= : )
kelphead.