For an adventure closer to home, I got to spend time at the New England Aquarium! For my first day, I met up with Dan Dolan at the Aquarium’s Husbandry Facility! Dan has been a volunteer diver for the aquarium for many years, and for the past few years has been working at their offsite…
After completing an amazing week with Holly Bourbon at the National Aquarium, I got to head right into my next assignment. I got picked up from the aquarium and we started the journey to our new home for the week. After picking up another member of our crew from the airport, we arrived at our…
Sadly its my final day at the National Aquarium, luckily however I got to squeeze in some fun things in the time I had remaining. I started the day meeting some of the aquarium’s husbandry experts, giving them a hand preparing food for the animals in the Blacktip Reef. Because there are so many different…
We started today at a different location! Today I got to tour the National Aquarium’s Animal Care and Rescue Center (or the ACRC). The ACRC is a state of the art facility which is responsible for housing and treating any incoming animals, putting them through a quarantine process to ensure their health and that of…
For my third day, I got to see a much different perspective of working at the aquarium! To start the day I got to watch three of the assistant dive safety officers all work together to clean the Blacktip Reef using a pressure washer. It’s was super impressive to see how well the entire team…
Today was a super fun day checking out the other massive tank at the National Aquarium. Our day started nice and early so that the dive team could test some of the safety measures around the dive-able locations. One of the places we checked in on was the aquarium’s dolphin exhibit. I was so surprised…
For my first day at the Aquarium, I got to do two dives in their Atlantic Coral Reef tank! The tank is a large ring that allows guests to walk up and down within the tank, providing a super dynamic environment for guests, as well as a fun diving experience. For our first dive, Holly…
For my first adventure out of New England, I get to fly to Maryland and spend a week with Holly Bourbon at the National Aquarium! The national aquarium is a staple of Baltimore, and has been around since the early 1980’s! It runs as a nonprofit devoted to inspire conservation, diversity, and inclusion. Holly is…
Today I got to help out and observe how the MA Division of Marine Fisheries goes about sampling certain species of fish. I met with Vin Malkoski, and two other workers in order to launch the boat. The plan for the day was to pull up five fish traps throughout the bay, and take samples…
Today I got to work with Vin Malkoski, and the Division of Marine fisheries (DMF)! The DMF is a body of government which manages the states commercial and recreational fisheries, as well as other marine environments and communities. Vin is the Senior Biologist as well as the Dive Safety Officer for the DMF. I met…
To finish off an amazing week with Rick Simon, I got to join him and a number of experienced divers on a trip to the Grecian! The Grecian was a 263 ft long freighter that sank a few miles of the coast of Block Island in the 1930’s. The entire crew met at Ricks boat,…
Today, instead of meeting at Ricks Boat for a day of work, we met at his house to drive to a new site for the day. On the way Rick bought us a great snack to get us ready for the day ahead. Shoreline’s Job for the day was to find, free, and relocate an…
Time for some work on the boat! Today we’re doing some work on the deck of Rick’s boat; the tiles on it needed to be pulled up and replaced with a new surface that’s easy to clean and safe to work on. The original tiles were laid down with roofing tar, so this took some…
Time for day two of work with Shoreline Diving. After getting prepped for another days worth of work, Rick, Dave, Austin and I headed out for a ride around the harbor to plan where the new moorings would be anchored in. Rick was able to plan the new moorings to be neatly in line with…
Hi everyone! My name is Brady Watson, and I’m so thankful and excited to be the 2023 Summer Intern for the Boston Sea Rovers! For my first assignment of the summer I get to work with Rick Simon and his crew from Shoreline Diving. We started the day meeting at Rick’s boat in Connecticut bright…
It is Saturday morning, and I am starting my journey to Point Pleasant New Jersey where I will be boarding the D.V. Tenacious. Jenn Selleti, and Joe Mazraani have invited me on their boat (D.V. Tenacious) for two days so that I can learn more about deep diving and artifact recovery. We will be heading…
No diving today since I fly tomorrow. Instead we will be exploring the South West side of the Island. Before we went there, we traveled to the mouth of a river where there was rumored to be a Beluga Whale carcass. We could smell it as soon as we pulled up, and just had to…
The weather is pretty bad today, with strong winds in the afternoon. We decided we would still dive, but just off the pier instead of going out on the boat. Michel said he would help me practice my turns using just my fins, along with the modified frog kick, and attempting to move backwards. We…
Diving day today! We are heading way East, farther than Michel and Julie have ever explored by boat. The sea was wicked calm today, so it was an easy ride there. We will be diving a wreck! I will be the first woman and youngest person to ever dive it! It is very unexplored so…
Instead of going out on the water, we will be exploring a bunch of places on land. We left around 9am and drove about 2 hours to our first stop. This was the Baie-De-La-Tour. Michel and Julie have a picture of this on their ecotour website, and I was wicked excited to see it in…
Another day on the water today! This time it is just Julie, Michel, and I. We got the boat prepped and collected the gear that was drying overnight. Today we are exploring the South East side diving since the water is pretty flat and it wouldn’t be a great day to explore land. On the…
Good morning! We were up and ready to go put the boat in the water at 7am. We pumped up the sides with air, as it is a Zodiac, so it was extra firm. Julie and Michel showed me how to put the boat in the water, and said I would be driving the trailer…
Today I am headed to Anticosti Island off of Quebec, Canada. I took a flight to Montreal yesterday, and now I am up at 4:30am to catch a small plane to Port Menier, the town in Anticosti. Anticosti Island is unlike any other place, with a population of 200, 350 miles of beautiful coastline, and…
My time working with Rick has come to an end. So sad! Today we will be heading to Greenwich Connecticut to work on a Dam. Rick was called on this job to do an inspection of the Dam, and I got to help. To start, Rick threw dye tablets in the water to see if…
Rick and I drove to his boat this morning and met up with his father, Eric. Today we will be diving two wrecks! The original plan was to head to the wreck of the Volund but since itwas pretty overcast and the wind was supposed to pick up, we decided the wreck of the Onondaga…
Today I will be heading to work with Rick at his company Shoreline Diving Services. We grabbed some tanks and headed to Rick’s boat which is kept about an hour from his house. There I met Elliot who would be tending, which means he is staying on the boat while we dive and making sure…
After Rick and his wife Erins horses got their hooves trimmed, Rick and I headed to Brownstone Quarry. Rick decided this was a good place for us to start as it would be my first day diving in my drysuit. Rick’s good friend Ed Hayes, who is co-owner of Brownstone Quarry and Adventure Park kindly…
Today I started my training with Rick Simon in Connecticut. Rick was the second Boston Sea Rover Intern in 2005. Now, he trains a lot of the newest interns by getting them more comfortable diving and gaining further certifications. This week I will be getting my advanced certification, which will include specialties in wreck diving,…
Instead of driving home after the day at the GOT, I drove to Dan and Dawn Dolans house in Hingham Massachusetts. Dan Dolan used to work full time at the New England Aquarium in the GOT, but due to covid now works part time at their offsite Husbandry Facility in Quincy. Since I would be…
Woohoo it Friday, and that means I get to dive in the Giant Ocean Tank!! This was supposed to be last Saturday but got moved around due a small covid outbreak. I am so excited! I did my morning commute to Boston, and brought all my dive gear with me. I headed right up to…
I am working in the Marine Mammals department today! This includes the SeaLion and the Harbor Seal exhibits. I started by working with Caitlyn and Hailey, two interns from this department, in the food prep room. They showed me how to wash and disinfect dishes, read the charts for different animal food prep, and how…
Today I will be working in the Aquarium Medical Center. After a morning meeting, Charlie Innis who is the Director of Animal Health showed me around the area they work. We went up to necropsy and I was able to ask questions about procedures with different animals and he explained the medical side of an…
I met up with Bill Murphy who is a Senior Aquarist for Galleries at the New England Aquarium. He showed me around from the public’s point of view, and then we went behind the scenes to see how the aquarists and their interns run the Galleries. Bill is in charge of the species from New…
Today is my first day at the New England Aquarium. I will be coming here for the next week and working in a different department everyday. Today is the penguin exhibit! I met Dan Dolan, who was a volunteer diver at the aquarium for years, and he showed me where to park and took me…
I drove to Kim Malkoski’s house as she is hosting me for a couple of days at her workplace, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI). We left at 6:50am to get to WHOI and to get situated for an 8am small boat training course. I will be taking this course for the next 2 days and…
Today we were back at the aquarium nice and early. In the morning I got to work with Alan, a Senior Aquarist for the Blue Wonders area. The first thing we did was prep food for varying species that were on the schedule to be fed today. I chopped up some fish while Alan’s…
Holly and I had a great weekend exploring and getting some much needed rest! Holly has Saturday and Sunday off from the aquarium. Saturday morning we started the day with a nice hike to Loch Raven Reservoir. It was great to get outside and start the day with some exercise. We then did a ton…
Today I completed my DAN First Aid for Divers training. Got up at 5:45am again, and headed to the aquarium. Holly had to help organize volunteers and do other work, so I helped Allison and Josh (who were teaching the First Aid class) to set up. The class started at 8:30am and ended around 2:30pm….
Holly dropped me off at the Animal Care and Rehabilitation Center (ACRC) at around 7am today! She had interviews to do to fill a job on her team, so I worked at ACRC all morning. This part of the ACRC is run by all women, and they were very nice to let me shadow and…
Today is my first day as a volunteer for the National Aquarium! Holly Bourbon, director of dive programs at the National Aquarium, is hosting me at her house for the next week. We woke up bright and early at 5:15am to leave for the aquarium by 5:45am. Upon arrival, I got my badge that gives…
After the Digital Shootout, I will be heading to the National Aquarium in Baltimore! There I will be completing my DAN First Aid for Divers training. As a part of this, I have to complete online modules to be prepared for the in classroom portion of the class. With 32 chapters ahead of me, I…
Today is the last day of shooting photos, as we have to submit all photos to the competition by early tomorrow morning. Not only is the Backscatter Shootout a great place to learn and grow with photography and diving, it is also a competition. Any photo taken by a shootout participant during the two weeks…
Heading to the wreck today! Wow. I am so excited. Most of the people on my boat had been there but this was a big deal for me. I have dove one wreck before, but it was wicked small compared to this. This is the wreck of the Hilma Hooker, it is around 240ft long…
Boats are heading to the infamous salt pier today! One of Bonaire’s biggest exports is salt, and there is a big conveyor belt connected to the pier that brings the salt to large ships. Ever since we have been here there has been a large ship docked so nobody was allowed to dive underneath the pier….
Today’s boat headed first to a dive site called Alice in Wonderland, and then back to Angel City which we had explored a few days prior. I was back to using a wide angle lens, and the first dive at Alice in Wonderland was fairly uneventful. I practiced lighting sun balls, and slowing my shutter…
I decided to stay on the house reef today and really work on shooting macro. As I was gearing up for my dive, Jocelyn and Christine were also heading out to test out some new dive gear and they said they would love to be my buddy! The first twenty minutes of my dive were…
I hopped on the same boat today at 7am, but this time with a wide angle lens. We went t o a spot called Salt City, as it was near the conveyor belt that moved all the salt to the ships. Once I descended I practiced and changed my settings while focusing on some coral,…
Woke up bright and early at 6am to get my camera gear ready and breakfast eaten before heading to the dive boat at 7am. Today I am borrowing a macro lens from Backscatters demo gear! I have never shot macro before, so this should be interesting. The first dive site was called Angel City, and…
I arrived in Bonaire for the Backscatter Digital Shootout Competition around 4:30pm yesterday! I am beyond excited to be here and so grateful to the Boston Sea Rovers for sending me here and to Backscatter for hosting me and planning an amazing event full of learning. For those who don’t know, the Annual Backscatter Digital…
On November 17th, worlds collided. Am I in Las Vegas for the Miss America Pageant? No, my heels are not tall enough, as can be seen in the photo below. What about the 2021 Car Wash Show? I am not kidding, that was a real and what seemed to be a respected event this weekend….