{"id":386445,"date":"2026-08-31T20:30:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T20:30:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/386445\/"},"modified":"2026-08-31T20:30:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T20:30:09","slug":"florida-aquarium-partnership-offers-teens-underwater-adventure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/386445\/","title":{"rendered":"Florida Aquarium partnership offers teens underwater adventure"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">TAMPA, Fla. &#8211; A local partnership put teenagers from Boys &amp; Girls Clubs face-to-face with sea life.<\/p>\n<p> Under the sea   <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">The backstory:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">At The Florida Aquarium, guests can purchase an additional experience at the 15-foot-deep Heart of the Sea habitat.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">&#8220;It gives people that are non-divers an opportunity to put on a helmet, wetsuit, drop down into one of our tanks and experience what it&#8217;s like to be underwater with all these animals,&#8221; Dale Hoffman of The Florida Aquarium explained.<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/wrtb-3.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" width=\"932\" height=\"524\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Three years ago, the lifelong diver wanted to expose the program, SeaTREK, to kids that might not have the opportunity to participate. A partnership with local Boys &amp; Girls Clubs was born.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> Shocking start turns to wonder <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">What they&#8217;re saying:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Many participants follow a similar script \u2014 fear, cold, then wonder and excitement.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">&#8220;It was amazing. It was life changing. I love the fish and the way they just swim around you, and I got to see fish I never got to see before,&#8221; 17-year-old Eliana\u00a0Pringle said. &#8220;It was very real, like you got to see them right next to you, which is like a different perspective.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/8f81e74e-wrtb-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" width=\"932\" height=\"524\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">For 12-year-old Madison Tambini, the underwater journey proved just as memorable.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">&#8220;It was very exhilarating. It was an interesting thing to try,&#8221; Tambini said.<\/p>\n<p> Inspiring the next generation <\/p>\n<p original-article-post=\"\" origination_station=\"WTVT\" data-v-ec26887a=\"\" data-v-94395e58=\"\">What&#8217;s next:<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Program organizers hope participants gain a deeper connection to nature.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p> <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/06e719bf-wrtb-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" fetchpriority=\"auto\" width=\"932\" height=\"524\" data-v-2fe2fe3e=\"\"\/>  <\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">&#8220;What I really hope it leads to is an appreciation of our oceans. 71% of the planet is water, and I hope it leads them to do something positive with the environment and conservation,&#8221; Hoffman said.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">Beyond marine education, youth leaders see the program as a catalyst for personal growth.<\/p>\n<p data-v-94395e58=\"\">&#8220;Every child that we reach has the potential to cause a ripple effect,&#8221; Ava Cahoon, of the Boys &amp; Girls Club of Greater Tampa Bay, said. &#8220;One experience can change the trajectory of a young person&#8217;s life.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"group-source-paragraph\" data-v-4fbf7207=\"\">The Source: The information in this story was gathered during interviews with teens and officials with The Florida Aquarium and Boys &amp; Girls Club of Greater Tampa Bay.<\/p>\n<p>    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fox13news.com\/tag\/series\/whats-right-with-tampa-bay\" class=\"tags-tag\" data-v-94395e58=\"\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">What&#8217;s Right with Tampa Bay<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, Fla. &#8211; A local partnership put teenagers from Boys &amp; Girls Clubs face-to-face with sea life. Under&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":386446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[28,30,29,115,405,3970],"class_list":["post-386445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-florida","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-news","tag-series","tag-whats-right-with-tampa-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/386445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/386446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=386445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}