People spend thousands of dollars to have giant aquariums in their homes, but this guy actually gets paid to live in one.
Meet Mark Dimzon, an aquarium biologist in the Live Exhibits Department at the Waikiki Aquarium in Honolulu, Hawaii. Dimzon lives in an 8-by-8-foot room next to the aquarium tanks and shares a wall with the monk seal exhibit.
Ask him what it's like to live in an aquarium, and he might tell you a story about a night shortly after he moved in, when a loud roar jerked him awake on the top bunk, making him smack his head on the low ceiling.
“The monk seals, Maka and Hoa, just wanted me to know that they were there,” he says, laughing about it. “We’re good now.”
Dimzon’s dorm is a remnant of the Waikiki Aquarium resident program, which started more than 30 years ago to "cushion the financial burden of attending the University of Hawaii," the application stated. It also provided the aquarium some nighttime support and security.
The program was closed last year because of costs, but the aquarium's executive director, Andrew Rossiter, decided to save one of the rooms to offer visiting scholars or new employees from the mainland a place to crash while they looked for housing.
For Dimzon, however, the extra room was a lifesaver.
Dimzon is from the Philippines, where his family still lives. Last year, the disastrous Super Typhoon Haiyan struck his home country just as he was hired for the Waikiki job.
"Everything collapsed," he says. "I was worried I’d lost the job before I even started.”
But when he finally reconnected with the aquarium, he was told he could still have the job. The aquarium expedited the process and offered him the dorm room for lodging.
“It was very hard for me to move here," Dimzon says, "because I have two babies." But, thanks to the dorm room, Dimzon is able to send 80 percent of his salary to his family and his neighbors to help their recovery efforts.
The situation is "mutually beneficial,” according to Rossiter, who sees no pressure to rush Dimzon out.
Now, Dimzon gets his mail delivered to the aquarium, he makes his meals there, and he also does extra research work, because, he says, “I gotta give them something in return, as a service.”
Dimzon researches how corals spawn and propagates them in the hopes of aiding conservation and reef restoration projects. His goal, he says, would be to make Waikiki Aquarium "a Noah’s Ark for other coral species that are threatened in the wild.”
It's a pretty simple life, according to Dimzon, and it's one that he's settled into.
On a typical day, he wakes up at 5:45 a.m., checks emails and chats with his family back home in the Philippines -- an 18-hour time difference. Then he shuts off the perimeter alarm before colleagues come to work, makes breakfast in the staff kitchen and checks the maintenance on the pumps, the protein feeders and the lights. He also cleans the windows of nine aquarium tanks, some of which are so big he has to swim down into the tank.
By 3:30, he says, he's checking out his research tanks, then surfing and relaxing. He eats dinner on the roof while the sun sets (this is unique perk of the job; the roof is off-limits to the general public), then he makes one more perimeter check before going to bed.
“When I was a kid," Dimzon says, "I always wanted to work in an aquarium. That’s why I got a degree in marine biology. Now, I’m living inside an aquarium and having these animals as my neighbors. It’s a childhood dream come true.”
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
It's Another Trump-Biden Showdown — And We Need Your Help
The Future Of Democracy Is At Stake
Our 2024 Coverage Needs You
Your Loyalty Means The World To Us
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
The 2024 election is heating up, and women's rights, health care, voting rights, and the very future of democracy are all at stake. Donald Trump will face Joe Biden in the most consequential vote of our time. And HuffPost will be there, covering every twist and turn. America's future hangs in the balance. Would you consider contributing to support our journalism and keep it free for all during this critical season?
HuffPost believes news should be accessible to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay for it. We rely on readers like you to help fund our work. Any contribution you can make — even as little as $2 — goes directly toward supporting the impactful journalism that we will continue to produce this year. Thank you for being part of our story.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
It's official: Donald Trump will face Joe Biden this fall in the presidential election. As we face the most consequential presidential election of our time, HuffPost is committed to bringing you up-to-date, accurate news about the 2024 race. While other outlets have retreated behind paywalls, you can trust our news will stay free.
But we can't do it without your help. Reader funding is one of the key ways we support our newsroom. Would you consider making a donation to help fund our news during this critical time? Your contributions are vital to supporting a free press.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our journalism free and accessible to all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
As Americans head to the polls in 2024, the very future of our country is at stake. At HuffPost, we believe that a free press is critical to creating well-informed voters. That's why our journalism is free for everyone, even though other newsrooms retreat behind expensive paywalls.
Our journalists will continue to cover the twists and turns during this historic presidential election. With your help, we'll bring you hard-hitting investigations, well-researched analysis and timely takes you can't find elsewhere. Reporting in this current political climate is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we thank you for your support.
Contribute as little as $2 to keep our news free for all.
Can't afford to donate? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. Would you consider becoming a regular HuffPost contributor?
Dear HuffPost Reader
Thank you for your past contribution to HuffPost. We are sincerely grateful for readers like you who help us ensure that we can keep our journalism free for everyone.
The stakes are high this year, and our 2024 coverage could use continued support. If circumstances have changed since you last contributed, we hope you'll consider contributing to HuffPost once more.
Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.