Sub Sea Systems, Inc. (SSS), a company specialising in immersive, memorable, hands-on encounters that educate through entertainment, previously announced that Johnny Morris’ Wonders of Wildlife National Museum & Aquarium (WOW) in Missouri, US, was developing an accessible SeaTREK programme.
The programme draws inspiration from Lola Sender's experience. She is a young woman with quadriplegic cerebral palsy who recently took part in a SeaTREK Out to Sea Shark Dive.
Now, the SeaTREK team at WOW have further developed their accessible SeaTREK programme to include guests with more than 26 different physical and cognitive disabilities.
Equal participation
Wonders of Wildlife (WOW) offers three different SeaTREK experiences: Out to Sea Feeding Frenzy, Out to Sea Shark Dive, and Adaptive Out to Sea Shark Dive.
Sender has since returned to WOW to participate in her second SeaTREK dive.
The original Out to Sea Shark Dive immerses guests beneath the water to encounter some of the ocean’s most impressive creatures, such as sand tiger sharks, sandbar sharks, and Atlantic goliath groupers.
Participants wear a modern SeaTREK air helmet, enabling a comfortable underwater experience without diver certification.
This adapted experience enables guests with physical and cognitive disabilities to participate equally. Throughout the experience, a supportive, trained dive team is present to ensure safety and deliver an exceptional underwater experience.
“I was absolutely just blown away by how prepared they were,” says Sender's mother, Melissa. “They clearly were so capable and skilled that it took so much of my fear away. I still did not want to get in a cage with sharks, but I knew she was going to be fine in there with the team that was with her.”
The Out to Sea Shark Dive immerses guests beneath the water to encounter some of the ocean’s most impressive creatures
The experience was about more than just swimming with some of the ocean’s most misunderstood creatures, adds Sender:
“I felt free under the water. This experience means everything to me. I got to do something most people are too scared to do. I got to be different in a good way, and it had nothing to do with my disability."
Sub Sea Systems also recently highlighted the work of its partner, the Florida Aquarium, and its Teen Achievers AQUA Experience.
Delivered in partnership with Bank of America and the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA, the programme works with historically underserved communities to provide access to marine sciences, leadership development, and hands-on conservation education.
