By: Ethan Simmons, Allison Shafer, & Felicia Silva
The Aquarium
Located on Bogue Banks near Morehead City, the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores showcases over 2,500 animals across 90,000 square feet of exhibits, drawing more than 400,000 visitors annually! Set within the Roosevelt Natural Area, the Aquarium offers an adventurous journey from the mountains to the sea, complete with nature trails and a playground. Established in 1976, the aquarium is part of the North Carolina Aquariums Division, alongside Fort Fisher, Roanoke Island, and Jennette’s Pier. They all fall under the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, which aims to promote aquatic conservation and education, a mission statement I am sure we can all relate to!
The dive program, led by a team of staff and volunteers, conducted over 1,100 dives last year! Scientific and AAUS standards guide most of their operations, with recreational dives reserved for VIP guests. The team also leads collaborative research projects along the East Coast that include sand tiger shark tracking, Spot-a-Shark initiatives, and lionfish population studies. These efforts are supported by the NC Aquarium Society and partner institutions like the Georgia Aquarium and Virginia Aquarium.
DSO Spotlight
Ethan Simmons, Diving Safety Officer at the North Carolina Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores, has built a career shaped by a lifelong connection to the ocean. Raised on the coast of North Carolina, Ethan’s passion for marine life began early, as school field trips and volunteer work at the NC Aquarium at Fort Fisher fueled his future career path. Ethan earned his AAS in Marine Technology from Cape Fear Community College in Wilmington and got his PADI Open Water certification in 1994. During his final checkout dive on a nearshore shipwreck, Ethan tangled his fin strap in some fishing line, this small moment sparked a love for wreck diving and a habit of always carrying a cutting tool.
Ethan’s professional dive career began at Discovery Cove in Orlando, where he transitioned from lifeguard to aquarist and discovered the thrill of diving as part of his job. He later worked at Ripley’s Aquarium in Myrtle Beach, where he earned his PADI Rescue and Divemaster certifications,combining his interests in education, husbandry, and diving. In 2006, he joined the NC Aquarium at Pine Knoll Shores as its first Assistant DSO, helping build a new dive program after a major renovation. That same year, he completed his PADI Instructor Development Course and attended his first ADPA/DEMA trip (the group was nowhere near as big as it is now)!!
In 2013, Ethan’s journey became a full-circle moment as he became DSO at PKS, where he continues to lead with passion and purpose. He values working alongside dedicated professionals and contributing to scientific research. Outside of work, Ethan enjoys boating, fishing, and board sports, and cherishes time spent with family and friends. A recent highlight was certifying his 11-year-old son and sharing their first family dive together, one of many to come!
Dive Staff Spotlight
Luckily, Ethan gets to share the extensive dive office duties with three other talented staff members! ADSO Nettie Bodwell and dive technicians (DSTs) Jennie Hodgson and Chelsea Ottinger bring the dive staff total to a respectable four-person team. Nettie primarily organizes the volunteer diving program and is the unofficial DPiC guru. Nettie and Ethan share equipment repair and maintenance responsibilities and together are the primary field research divers. Jennie and Chelsea mainly serve as standby divers/tenders along with in-water roles as needed, and daily dive locker cleanup and occasional field diving opportunities.
ADSO Nettie Bodwell started diving in college at Cal State University Monterey Bay (CSUMB) in 2012. She worked two summers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA) with the Underwater Explorers program, spent one summer as the ADSO at Oregon Coast Aquarium, and volunteered at MBA for a total of five years. Somewhere in those few years, she worked in the dive locker at CSUMB as well as part-time at the local Bamboo Reef Dive Shop. During COVID, she found a job posting for the ADSO position here at NCA PKS and moved across the country to start her new role in May 2021.
DST Jennie Hodgson started diving when she was 15 years old. She moved to Florida for college and became a PADI OWSI in 2019. After teaching classes in Florida for a few years, she moved back up to North Carolina and started working here at NCA PKS in 2022.
DST Chelsea Ottinger has been diving for over 15 years and was an SSI DM when she first held this position in 2018. She then moved to Okinawa, Japan, where she received her PADI OWSI in 2022. She spent a couple of years working at Sea World after moving back to the States and loved diving with Beluga whales. Once back in North Carolina, she became a volunteer diver at the Aquarium for a short time and was recently rehired earlier this spring.
