Rockfish Rehab - In Garbage Cans Beneath the Regatta Course

A former student of Mr Miller’s, Amanda LeSergent, is now the Head Aquarist at the Shaw Centre for the Salish Sea in nearby Sidney. They had connected recently with ideas for collaboration between Brentwood and the aquarium, and she reached out to ask if we could help them in rehabilitating some of their charges. 

Of course, we said YES!              

The patients were of two species: a black, and a yellowtail rockfish. The fish were retaining air in their bodies, which eventually travelled to behind their eyeballs, causing their eye to pop out - called "pop-eye" or exophthalmia. If left untreated, the air could push through and end up in their cornea, causing extra damage and eventually destroying the eye. 

The fish needed to be lowered to a depth of approximately 15 m with a pressure of at least 1 atm to help the excess air diffuse out of their bodies. The Brentwood SCUBA team met the aquarist team of Eleana and Amanda from the aquarium on 16 January and brought the fish out to the starting dock for the Brentwood Regatta, which was lying above a suitable depth. 

In modified garbage cans, we lowered the fish to the pre-determined depth and left them for 7 days to let the bubbles diffuse out of their bodies. After a quick check on Day 5, we returned with Amanda and her colleague Halle on Day 7 and gradually brought the two fish to the surface for their return to the aquarium - sans bubbles! 

It was a great opportunity for the dive team to use their unique skill set to give back to the community. Thanks to our instructors at Wilson Diving for monitoring the process with us.