Mall of America Dive, Let's Do It!

[Chris]

Ok, I'll give this a shot...

First, thanks to Underwater World for their great hospitality... really enjoyed the dives and people there.

When you get there, the first thing they have you do is unpack your gear (they set it up for you), then you have a little briefing and they give you a behind the scenes tour and show you the drop in area of each tank (2) that you'll be diving in and what to be aware/cautious of. Next, you suit up and head to the freshwater tank. This was very enjoyable and relaxing. One of my favorite things to do was interact with the people going through the tunnel, especially the kids. They think it's really cool when you wave to them. The alligator gar were enormous, and really looked like an alligator from below! They let you dive by yourself and feed the sturgeon which was really cool too.

After this, you make a short surface interval (snack, juice) and talk about the next dive, the saltwater dive with sharks! This was a neat experience... Two of them go down first to setup a perimiter, then you go down close to the wall. They do a nice job of letting the sharks get close, but not too close. Pretty intense watching them go by and come towards you. It's not scary at all, and really nice seeing how they look at you and don't really seem to care. The stingrays and sea turtle were really neat as well. I got a nice under-shot of a ray and will post it when I remember to bring my cd in. You make 3 stops in the saltwater tank and really get a good feel for it.

As always, the dive was too short... would have loved to spend more time down there.

I'll be doing this dive once a year for sure.

Highly recommend this to anyone that wants to try it. Well worth the money in my opinion. After the dives they allowed my fience and her two kids to come up and take a little tour, they gave each of them a t-shirt as well, which I think went above and beyond. One of the divemasters let her daughter (4 years old) spray water at him, she thought that was pretty funny until the hose got away from her and she got all wet... That's when they brought out the extra shirts and everything was better

[chrisw]

Chris and I found sand shark teeth. I think
tbrown's wife did too...

I enjoyed the sturgeon feeding. They have large
mouths that extend down and they hoover up the food.
A couple of them sucked on my leg and fins. (Last
time one sucked on my hood and mask - that was weird)

You can see ppl perfectly clearly through the tunnel.
It was great fun to interact with the kids.

I recommend the dive!

[tcjtn0]

Hey , Chris and Chris filled in all the details very nicely!!!
Sorry , I haven't had a chance to get on till now.
I am definately going back again (sometime this year). Now that I knew what to expect it was much easier and more fun.
I took a few tunnel pictures (not as many as last time).
And it was a busy afternoon for people coming thru the aquarium. They seemed to get a real kick watching us. (Which was true on the 1st dive also.)

Got some nice shots of Chrisw getting "sucked" on. (I got attacked right when I went down. One or two of them decided to have a run at my legs).
But in true Jean style , I hit my head getting out of the fresh water side. (Actually drew blood so I was kinda afraid of attracting the sharks to me...Yewwww)
Got some *real* good pictures of the tuddys (sea turtles). Hopefully I got good angles on the sharks.
They move in and out so fast and with 4 of us taking pictures it was first come , first serve !!!
And I was so happy that I was weighted much better this time. Not bombs away on the fresh water side this time.

All in all , it was a blast !!!

My thanks to the Tbrowns for coming and keeping me in line.
My thanks to Chris for coming and diving with us...Thanks loads.
My thanks to Chrisw for being a #1 buddy (again) with me.
And thanks to Lonnie for stopping out and seeing us. I felt bad you werent on the "GOOD SIDE" of the tunnel.

If there is *ANY* interest in doing another one before the ice disappears , let me know.
I can call and check on open dates. (Wed night or Saturday Afternoon)

Thanks again to everyone...My pics will be on fotki.com later this week. (Shot 2x24 exp. rolls...COOL!!!)

Jean ;D

P.S. And I forgot my drill...Darn it. But I did do a "I turned kinda bad and smashed the tunnel with my tank" trick.
Luckly , I did not spring any leaks etc...

[tbrown]

I think one thing that may have been overlooked about this dive in other reports and one of the things that I liked best about it, was some of the species you will never see diving anywhere else. Sturgeon and fresh water eels live in rivers, so you will never find water clear enough to see them, much less your hand in front of your face. And while others species I have seen "in the wild", this gives a greater chance of interaction/photo. In the salt water tank, you are not worried about currents, depth, or where is the boat! All you have to do is relax and enjoy the critters, and most love to pose and play. The one thing I didn't like was everytime the bigger sharks came in, and I had the picture lined up, the DM's chased them away. I would have thought a good photo was worth the loss of a few limbs. All they need is a spotted eagle ray, and it would be perfect. All in all it was a good trip and a special thanks from me and Julie to Tina for outstanding shore support with the twins.

[tcjtn0]

I also tried to line up a couple of shots on the sharks but either they went thru too fast or angled off away from my view. But I would *NOT* have sacrificed any of my limbs etc. just to get that "perfect pic".

Jean

[tbrown]

Well, maybe just a finger or 2

[igotoofar]

Did you use a flash with your camera? or was it not needed?

[tbrown]

I believe everyone used a flash. In the packet MOA sent, it said that cameras without a flash would not take pics that would come out. I figured I would rather be safe than sorry.

[tcjtn0]

I think everyone there also had a strobe. I wonder what just flash would do there? It probably would be OK on the salty side but probably would be too dark on the freshy side. I have notice that even in well-lit pools sometimes just a flash is not enough (you need the strobe to get more definition and color). And OK , I would admit , maybe a finger or two for that special shark picture might be an even trade-off. :

Tanx...Jean

[Chris]

Here's one of my pics, just flash with no strobe. This is the bottom side of a ray in case you can't tell