50,000 kids inspired by the ocean with Underwater Explorers

Where ocean equity meets children with disabilities

Our ocean is a boundless and majestic lifeline brimming with a force that sustains all species on this planet. It connects us, offers recreational opportunities, and balances our ecosystems. It regulates our climate, provides us with food, jobs, and livelihoods, and can positively boost our well-being, reduce stress, and increase our creativity.

What if we told you there was a program that takes children with disabilities, equips them in dry suits, buoyancy compensator devices (BCDs), regulators, pressure gauges, boots, gloves, and hoods, and plunges them into the Pacific Ocean with trained divemasters and dive instructors to explore the wonders of ocean life? But most importantly, to feel free from whatever binds them physically or mentally.

It exists and it happens every summer, from June through Labor Day, right off the back deck of the Aquarium!

Exploring the Great Tide Pool

It’s a sunny Tuesday summer afternoon out on the Aquarium back deck. A group of kids gather around the Underwater Explorers tent and briefing area. Some look excited, others look nervous and apprehensive as they eye the scuba tanks and dry suits in front of them. 

The scuba instructors give the kids an enthusiastic briefing on what they’re about to experience. Once they’re all suited up, they head down the ramp towards the Great Tide Pool. 

They step into the water, and their eyes widen as their bodies acclimate to the 50 degree water temperature. 

Once everyone's in the water, the instructors take their group of kids to different areas of the Tide Pool pointing out the swaying kelp beds, the decorator crab crawling across the rocks, and the sea hare hiding among the kelp fronds. With each new discovery, the kids’ faces brim with excitement and wonder.

Tapping into the wonders beneath the waves

Gavin Wuttken, former senior dive safety officer (DSO) for the Aquarium, had the wild idea of getting children out of their wheelchairs and into the watery wonders off our back deck, for an afternoon of surface scuba diving. Gavin’s wife had worked with people with disabilities in swimming pool therapy sessions, which inspired him to seek further training to serve those same people. 

Soon after, Days of Discovery was launched in 2002 as a joint project between NIADD (National Instructors Association of Divers with Disabilities), Oceanic, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium Dive Office. This immersive experience exposed kids with disabilities with the magic of the ocean inspiring them to love and care for this big blue planet as well as offering a healing modality to boost their confidence, and reduce their stress and anxieties. 

Twenty-two years and thousands of participants later, this program has evolved to include an annual summer program called Underwater Explorers (UE) for Aquarium visitors. It turns our back deck into an opportunity to educate and inspire the younger generation, nurturing a sense of responsibility and love for the ocean from an early age. 

Every summer, we hire 13 full-time seasonal employees trained as Underwater Explorers instructors. As part of this training program, we open spots for the children of Aquarium staff so they have the opportunity to be involved. 

James Bonovich, dive officer and manager of public dive programs at the Aquarium, notes that all seven of the full-time dive staff at the Aquarium started their careers as Underwater Explorers instructors.

“With over 50,000 explorers, since the programs’ inception, trained in basic scuba skills and exposed to the underwater world by summer's end, we're truly opening up the next generation to the awe and wonders beneath the waves,” James says. “We couldn't do it without the incredible efforts of the Underwater Explorers divers who join us daily. These kids get to see unique marine life local to our area – everything from gumboot chitons, sea cucumbers, and limpets, to rockfish, anemones, and sea stars the size of their heads.”

Scuba for self-achievement

The main goal of the program, says George Peterson, Director of Dive Programs at the Aquarium, is to create constituents for the ocean, lifelong ocean advocates. Whether they follow marine conservation in their career or go on to work at an advertising agency, the goal with this program is that they will always carry a love for the ocean. 

As George says with passion in his eyes and vigor in his voice, “Scuba diving is a vehicle for self-achievement and self-awareness.” 

Victoria Maur is on the autism spectrum and her dad was a regular visitor at the Aquarium. She took part in Underwater Explorers 37 times growing up, coming multiple times a summer. Another program participant, Ionella Brown an Autistic individual, wasn’t verbal at the time when she started taking part in Days of Discovery. At first, she was very resistant to the program but she kept coming back to try again. Over the course of a couple of years, she went from being non-verbal and not social at all to being extremely verbal – singing, performing, going to community college, getting a job, and has even become a loyal volunteer with Days of Discovery.

Seeing the transformation of a child who has never physically experienced the ocean is what makes Underwater Explorers so special. “We get a wide range of kids,” he says.

The real ripple effect

With programs like Underwater Explorers and Days of Discovery, conservation naturally becomes a part of these kids’ lives. It’s a clear reminder that you protect what you love, you love what you know, you know what you're taught.

The instructors may mention conservation in their introduction or as the kids gather after their dive, but what really drives the message home is the ocean itself, the underwater creatures they see for the first time, and the experience of being an aquanaut for a summer afternoon.

Every child gets a logbook after their dive, along with pre-dive tips on how to wear their gear and instructions on the big rules of scuba diving such as, always breathe and never hold your breath, touch gently, point out what you see, tide pool etiquette, and visit with care. The conservation messaging is woven into the program, but the kids arrive at this organically.

“I did Underwater Explorers when I was nine. The exposure of getting into the Great Tide Pool and seeing the underwater marine life changed my perspective on life. There’s a whole ecosystem out there that we don’t see on a day-to-day basis. There were a lot of studies coming out about plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean and it made me see the impact that I have just as one person. If I can add my little grain of salt being more conscious of what I’m consuming, it will go a long way for our ocean. If each household were to do their part it would have a huge impact.” - Underwater Explorer, Pablo Morales

The adventure that started in 2002 reached a major milestone on September 2, 2024 – 50,000 participants have now been a part of Underwater Explorers and Days of Discovery! 

“If we can share the wonders of the ocean with our guests by giving them up close and personal views through our exhibits, touch pools, and experiences like Underwater Explorers, you’ve just created a connection for them with those animals,” says George. “What happens when you create a connection with anything? You love it, you protect it, you want to engage with it, you want to be with it. Our motto for this program is taken very seriously by the instructors: We stoke kids daily.”

Underwater Explorers directly hits home our mission of inspiring conservation of the ocean.

"There's no better way to inspire someone to fall in love with the ocean than to put them into the ocean, immerse them in that environment, and let them see those animals in their natural habitat," says James.