GA State Aquarium Friday

SeaJayInSC

SeaJayInSC

New member
It's an exciting time to be a commercial diver.

I got notification yesterday that one of my bids has been accepted by the "new" Georgia State Aquarium in Atlanta, Georgia.

The job is to repair a submerged rock display in the Beluga Whale tank. The whales have already been relocated and the chillers turned off. Draining the tank to about half it's capacity will begin next week.

Meanwhile, I am making the 5-hour trip Friday (10/16/09) morning to do a dive in the tank and observe the damaged portions of the display so that I can properly prepare a crew and equipment for the repair dives.

I am exceedlingly pleased to do this job - it should open some great doors in the future. Let's face it - in this business, reputation is everything, and a great job done on such a public venue will look great to future prospective clients. I anticipate much business coming from a job well done.

Aside from that, diving in aquariums is super-cool. :)

Since I don't otherwise get to Atlanta often, is there anyone local that would like to hook up? I might find the need for another diver, of course, and there's always the chance to see the "Mac Daddy" of aquariums in action... Even just hooking up for lunch or dinner with a fellow aquarist or diver would be fun.

The whales will return December 1st - so I'll be completing the job before then.

I am actually a subcontractor for the company that will be doing all of the display work that's NOT submerged while the tank is half empty... So don't expect much. :)
 
Still working on it.

I have only yet done a preliminary dive in order to estimate the job and see what's necessary.

...Which is a lot. This is going to tax my creative skills. :)

I have been working with the idea that everything's got to be set and ready for the return of the Beluga whales December 1st... However, I got news today that everything's got to be done by the 13th.

Long story short, I'll be dedicating several days in the next two weeks to the GA Aquarium. That's an issue, as I've already got enough business to choke a horse. :) Looks like I'll be working a lot of overtime... Like I'm not already. :) Time to raise prices. :)

The initial dive was a true eye-opener. :)
 
Having obviously built a very large aquarium display, if you have any specific questions in regards to something, please don't hesitate to contact me... I may have an idea or 2 for you.

-Tim
 
Thanks, my friend. :)

Know anything about applying epoxies underwater? I'm trying to color-match concrete with an epoxy resin...
 
SeaJayInSC said:
Thanks, my friend. :)

Know anything about applying epoxies underwater? I'm trying to color-match concrete with an epoxy resin...
Click to expand...
YES and NO -- It depends upon the types of epoxy being used. I do however know who would know this stuff!

Contact "H2OEng" (a member here) through his website at www.blueplanetwaterworks.com

I believe Chris is still with the Aquarium of the Bay in SanFrancisco, and still does some work w/ the Montery Bay Aquarium.

He's a friend, so just tell him I sent ya! ;)

-Tim
 
It was awesome having you there, Tim! You did a fantastic job with that stuff... It sounded to me like EVERYONE at the Aquarium was thrilled with our results - which we both know was due to you and your efforts. I sure am glad you and your expertise were there! You really did a great job fixing that tank! Thank you so much for all of your hard work, Tim!

I'm confident that at some point we'll get a call again - of course, I'll be calling you to make sure you're on the team - and payroll. :)

Thanks for all of your hard work and lost sleep. :)
 
It wasn't me Gus!

The sum total is divided into 4 equal parts... Being that I was the 4th leg in the relay, perfection had already been achieved 3 times before I ever entered the picture!

* Ughhh, I sound like a motivational speaker at a 'Self Help' seminar.

-Tim
 
Hahahahaaa... Awesome point! It doesn't matter if it sounds motivational or not - it's true nonetheless. :)

I didn't see one weak link in the team at all. It was amazing to see all four of us come together like that and create such good results... Something greater than the sum of it's parts. :)

I can't wait for the next job. :) Something tells me that we're going to be very busy in the next year or so. :)
 
So I managed to locate an instructor and will begin my DEEP DIVER cert tomorrow morning on 2 wrecks out of West Palm Beach... These will also be drift dives, and my first ocean dives.

I've become a dive whore! :D

-Tim
 
After having dived with you, Tim, you should pass with flying colors. :) West Palm's great... Clear water right up to the beach. :)

Basically, that's the northernmost point in the US where the water's like that - good vis, right to the shoreline. Consequently, that area's probably the #1 dive destination in the world, and "scuba headquarters" for the United States.

While you're there, check out a "Fill Express." It's a too-cool technical shop (there's many scattered around Florida) that fills tanks with whatever you want in a matter of minutes. You'll get a kick out of the fill equipment if you get a chance to check it out.

...Nothing wrong with being a dive whore. :) It pays really well, if you do it right. :)
 
Nice to meet folks that dove in the GA aquarium, I was there for a scientific workshop a few weeks ago and they took the 6 of us diving in the whale shark tank, had a blast...
 
Wow... Too cool!

Tim and I never got the chance to dive the Whale Shark tank, but we certainly did try! It looked like it was too cool for words...

We have to agree with your assessment of the people there, though... Every single one of them was friendly, professional, sharp in appearance, and obviously very good at what they do. Their "dive shack" was equipped with the latest and greatest gear and servicing equipment, and just seeing all of those full tanks sitting against the wall was an incredibly pretty sight...

Unfortunately, by the time we finished our work on the large, partially-drained coldwater tank (which was being worked on simultaneously above the waterline by another company, and thus full of concrete rubble, dust, no animals, etc.) there were classes and group dives that were going on that prevented us from being able to dive the Whale Shark tank. So, while we all wanted to "congratulate" ourselves with a job well done by diving the big tank, it was impossible.

The people there, however, asked us to come back another time to enjoy a dive in the big tank. Believe me, it'll happen at some point - there's no way a diver can pass up that opportunity!

Meanwhile, our work on the coldwater tank went deep into the night both nights - it simply was more efficient and out-of-the-way for us to work the odd hours. To accomplish this, the Aquarium gave us three electronic passes that earned us entrance into any area of the Aquarium we wanted. Of course, there's a 24-hour security force there at the Aquarium, which is equipped with cameras everywhere, but they knew us and understood our needs... But basically we were unsupervised most of the time. That allowed us to see some pretty amazing things, especially since two of our group are Aquarists... Tim being a professional. Several times he would open a door just to look at the amazing equipment that powered these large tanks. He was like a kid in a candy store!

...So we, too, got to see some unbelievable things. We also got to run his new scooters in the coldwater tank, which was a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we didn't get to dive the really big tank - although I see that coming up someday.

What was it like?
 
I wasn't exactly clear on what happened, but I believe that the Belugas somehow caused damage to the tank originally, then were "chewing on it" (quote from some people at the Aquarium) and making it worse.

To fix the situation, the afflicted spot was covered in Z Spar, a common epoxy that can be applied underwater and hardens to create a sealed, thick covering. Unfortunately, it also dries off-white, so it had the appearance of a big, giant wad of bubble gum stuck to the inside of the tank.

My company was hired to repair the spot correctly and cosmetically. They had done a great job fixing the spot structurally, but it needed some help cosmetically. There were several other spots in the tank, too, that also needed some cosmetic repair, but the main one was that spot.

I'm really proud of the way our job came out... Even when diving, it's tough to tell where we made repairs and where we didn't. We duplicated both the color and the texture of the inside of the tank nicely. I doubt the public, from behind the glass, will ever be able to recognize our repairs, even if they were looking for them.

Apparently doing cosmetic work while submerged on an Aquarium like this is a unique thing - to the best of my knowledge, nobody's been able to successfully do it before. To make repairs, Aquariums usually simply drain the tank and call the cement guys in - but "where to put the water," "where to put the animals," and the cost of doing so (replacing the water can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars) can prevent the job from ever getting done, even if the Aquarium is willing to part with that kind of capital.

Our solution was considerably less pricey, and very successful. I'm very pleased with the work, and they are too. :)

I'm hoping to get a lot more jobs out of this one. :) Once we've got a great reputation in the industry, I can see us traveling all over the world to do jobs like this.
 
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