- Matt Martin, 35, spends hours cleaning shark tanks at Blue Planet Aquarium
- Armed with just a wet suit and brush, he swims among deadly tiger sharks
- The biggest tiger shark weighs a massive 650lb and is more than 12ft long
- Mr Martin has undergone rigorous training to ensure he is safe with sharks
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For many, diving into a shark tank and spending hours every day among the deadly creatures would be a terrifying thought.
But for one man, spending up to seven hours a day swimming with more than 10 sharks is just part of his daily work schedule.
That’s because Matt Martin, 35, is a professional shark tank cleaner at the Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire and heads up a team which takes more than 1,000 dives in the 3.4million litre tank every year.
Matt Martin, 35, is a professional shark tank cleaner at the Blue Planet Aquarium in Cheshire and heads up a team which takes more than 1,000 dives in the 3.4million litre shark tank every year to carry out maintenance
Mr Martin, armed with just a wetsuit and a brush, spends up to seven hours every single day in the shark tank
He is a highly-experienced diver and has undergone rigorous training to ensure he is safe in the shark tank
With just a wet suit and a brush, Mr Martin and his team bravely spend up to seven hours a day in the depths of the tank which is home to an array of shark species including nurse, zebra, bamboo and six deadly sand tiger sharks.
The biggest of them all is a sand tiger called ‘Storm’ who weighs a massive 650lb and is more than 12ft long.
Mr Martin said: ‘I was petrified of sharks as a kid mainly because of the Jaws films and they are large potentially dangerous animals.
‘We wear wet suits, mainly to stop hypothermia and to prevent grazes. The way we train minimises the risk to us in the tanks.
‘The times when the sharks can be potentially disruptive to our dives is during mating season, that’s when there is a lot of sexual energy around and they can be unpredictable.
‘Storm is the biggest shark we have, she’s a sand tiger and about 300kgs and 12-feet nose to tip, and could be a bit longer.
‘In the wild, there have been a fair few incidents with sand tigers responsible for attacks, mainly in shallow waters in accidents when people have irritated them or with spear fishermen.
‘There’s always an element of danger.’
One of the biggest sharks in the tank is a Tiger shark called Storm which weighs 650lb and is more than 12ft
Mr Martin, who has worked at the aquarium for the last two years, said there is ‘always an element of danger’ with his job but has been trained to recognise and understand the sharks’ behaviour so he knows when to stop
But Mr Martin – who has worked at the aquarium for the last two years – said rigorous training minimised the danger to him and other divers.
The have all undergone a specially-adapted training plan, which takes up to six months to complete and teaches them how to dive among the animals and recognise and understand the sharks’ behaviour.
Blue Planet Aquarium curator David Wolfenden said each shark tank cleaner is a highly-experienced diver who has undergone specific training and medical checks.
He said that while there is the potential dangerous threat to divers, the hazards are minimalised by their extensive training and the fact the sharks are used to people being in the tanks.
He said: ‘It can be potentially quite dangerous but if it is done properly it’s actually a pretty safe job. It’s all about recognising the behaviour of the sharks and knowing how to dive safely.
‘The divers always have a safety diver with them and a dive supervisor at the top of the tank, as well as intercom to talk to each other.
He said: ‘We joke that cleaning the tank is a bit like cleaning the Forth Road Bridge, it’s continually ongoing’
The sharks are said to be used to the divers and tend to go about their business without any cause for concern
‘But the sharks aren’t that interested in them to be honest, the sharks are used to people being in the water.
‘We have divers in there every single day. We take members of the public in there every week so there’s someone in the tank pretty much all day every day.
‘They get very well fed so it’s not like they’re going to get peckish.
‘There is always the potential when you’re doing that kind of job of being bitten if you’re careless or if they are excitable but part of the training divers have is recognising those behaviours and knowing when to stop if necessary.
‘Sometimes we do stop all diving and underwater cleaning and maintenance if the divers feel things are getting a bit lively in there.’
Mr Martin added: ‘We are in there for about 1,000 dives a year, we joke that cleaning the tank is a bit like cleaning the Forth Road Bridge, it’s continually ongoing.’
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