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Taking the plunge: Program director volunteers at local aquarium by Kathy D. Shanahan College of Health Professions Obviously, Blair Holladay, Ph.D., doesn’t mind getting his feet wet. Every month he spends the better part of a day under water.  Dr. Blair Holladay combines work with play. It all began in Fall 2000 when Holladay, associate professor and program director of the College of Health Profession’s cytotechnology program, saw a “volunteers needed” ad for the South Carolina Aquarium. Here was an opportunity to do something he loved while informing the public about ocean life.  He jumped at the chance to be a volunteer diver. On volunteer day, Blair dives four times in the aquarium’s 335,000-gallon Great Ocean Tank. The 42-foot deep tank contains about 300 reef-inhabiting fish from off the South Carolina coast including Crevalle Jack, Squirrelfish, Yellowtail Snapper, Blacknose Shark, Black Sea Bass, Bonnethead Shark, Nurse Shark, Green Moray Eel, and Sandbar Shark. The day begins by preparing the 48 pounds of food necessary to feed all the fish: Macreal, smelt, squid, shrimp, vitamin-based gel food, krill, peas, and collard greens. The first 50-minute dive involves cleaning the underwater coral and gallery windows and vacuuming the tank bottom. In three subsequent dives, Holladay conducts an interactive underwater show, combining 20 minutes of dialogue with the guests and a 25-minute feeding session. The dive shows are not just entertainment. A script between the diver and an out-of-tank aquarium employee educates the guests about the fragility of South Carolina’s reefs.  The natural reefs off the South Carolina coast are formed from limestone rock, not coral. They are covered with living creatures such as sponges, soft corals, and many small animals that live in the rock’s crevices.  Litter is very harmful to our reef system. Between dives, Holladay maintains the dive equipment, refilling the oxygen tanks and cleaning the regulators, weights, and fins. In addition, he maintains his dive logs and feeding records. Volunteers play an important role in the maintenance of the Great Ocean Tank. Holladay began diving in 1977, when he was fifteen years old. He has sampled waters all over the United States and around the world, so he easily met the advanced certification and extensive diving experience required for the job. His most memorable dive occurred in the Cayman Islands where he had the pleasure of swimming alone with a group of nurse sharks for an hour. “It was an incredible event,” Holladay said, “one that I will never forget.” Holladay plans to continue diving at the aquarium as long as he can. It’s more than just fun for him. “It’s a very rewarding experience, as well as an important civic duty,” he explains. Catalyst Online is published weekly, updated as needed and improved from time to time by the MUSC Office of Public Relations for the faculty, employees and students of the Medical University of South Carolina. Catalyst Online editor, Kim Draughn, can be reached at 792-4107 or by email, catalyst@musc.edu. Editorial copy can be submitted to Catalyst Online and to The Catalyst in print by fax, 792-6723, or by email to petersnd@musc.edu or catalyst@musc.edu. To place an ad in The Catalyst hardcopy, call Community Press at 849-1778.