Mississippi Aquarium recognizes majority-female dive time in honor of Women’s Dive Day 2022
July 16th is ‘Women’s Dive Day.’ As we spotlight women in this male dominated industry, News 25’s Lorraine Weiskopf stopped by the Mississippi Aquarium to speak with a member of their majority female dive team.
“You’ll hear a lot of parents talk to their kids about the divers in the water and they’ll say ‘look honey, he’s cleaning’ and I’m like actually ‘she’s cleaning.’”
Michaela Fruci puts on her over 60 pounds worth of scuba gear just like any other diver, plunging in the male dominated industry.
She’s not the only professional opening doors to the underwater world. At the Mississippi Aquarium, 21 out of their 25 certified divers are women. “It’s definitely very powerful to see a little girl waving up at me from the glass and I get to wave back and say ‘yes, I am here. I do this.’”
July 16th is recognized by the Professional Association of Diving Instructors as ‘Women’s Dive Day.’
The aquarium’s female divers account for 618 dives out of 763 dives, roughly 80 percent. “Not only do we dive, normally we do hard tasks such as handling power tools, scrubbing, and cleaning, and stuff to make our habitats look good. So, it was an adjustment to come to that kind of diving, but I got to do it with a community of like-minded members.”
Fruci hopes their female-dive team will inspire others to break barriers and submerge themselves in a career where they too will be confident.
