Office Space

I have spent my summer in the man-made tidepool that you see in the foreground, with the kelp forest just beyond, and Marina and Seaside in the background. The water is usually around 50 degrees Farenheit. If you were to swim around in there without the benefit of insulation, it would probably cause your extremities to go numb rather quickly, and make your body tingle. Last summer, we rescued an older gentleman who had fallen off his boat when I was working on the Baylis. He was in the water for less than 5 minutes, but already started to exhibit signs of hypothermia.

In other words, the water is fairly cold.

Access to the tidepool is limited to about 20 percent of the staff, and of course, the kids that we take in the Underwater Explorers program (which I will post about later).

Sometimes we get sea otters, sea lions, and other wildlife in the tidepool. It hasn't happened during a program this summer, but we have trained for contingencies in case it ever does.

As you may see, we get quite a crowd watching us from the decks. I feel sorry for the many adults who see kids exploring the Great Tide Pool who are not allowed to enroll in our program (or anyone who is not 8-13 years old, the ages for whom this program exists).

The Great Tidepool is an ideal place to get used to using SCUBA equipment because it is mostly sheltered from waves. There are times when this is not the case, but during the summer, we rarely have any problems with the waves getting too large.

As you might imagine, it's one of the most fun places to work in the Aquarium.