EYE-TO-EYE SHARK DIVE
Where: Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium, 5400 N. Pearl St., Tacoma, Wash. When: Zoo hours vary seasonally. From November through midDecember, hours are 9:30 a.m.4 p.m. Thursdays through Mondays. Dives are offered four times daily. Reservations are required. Admission: $65 for a cage dive; $175 for a scuba dive. Details: 253-591-5337, www.pdza.org. reservations for an underwater close-up with the 17 sharks and dozens of fish in the tank.
The cage-dive experience is available for anyone older than 8, and no experience is necessary. Scuba divers must have certification but gear is provided. Wilken and head dive officer Gavin Wuttken are trained to assist disabled visitors, and the facility is ADA-accessible.
The costs of adding the attraction have been moderate. The zoo hired a second dive officer and spent about $197,000 to install a cage in the aquarium and construct the building. Inhouse crews kept the price tag low by doing the work them- selves.
Crews began working about a year ago on a small building next to the aquarium where participants can shower or wash their clothes if needed after the dive. It’s also where divers will learn about the perils sharks face and be asked to sign a pledge protecting them.
About 38 million sharks are stripped of their fins each year and dumped back into the ocean, where they sink and drown, according to zoo deputy director John Houck. The fins are used to make shark-fin soup, a delicacy in Eastern cultures. Washington is one of eight states that ban the sale of shark products.
“The highest motivation for us is to tell a story about what’s happening to sharks,” he said. “It’s a story about emptying the oceans and mass harvesting, and most people don’t know about it.”
Zoo officials hope divers will connect with the sharks and help conservation efforts.
Those who pay for the pleasure will see nurse sharks, lemon sharks, sandbar sharks, blacktip reef sharks, a Japanese Wobbegong, Crevalle jacks, butterflyfish, horse-eye jacks, clown fish and many more.
During the four daily dives, Wilken and Wuttken will use an underwater microphone to communicate with divers and help them identify the creatures.