Carly Brenner Hunter and her team at Carly Underwater Film and Safety make it their goal to be sure the fish swimming in the aquariums at stores in Niagara and Vaughn have the “best possible environment”.
When one thinks of commercial divers, images of offshore oil rigs, underwater pipelines, inspection jobs or sundry other industrial applications come to mind.
But it can also involve some more pleasant activities.
Having been an avid aquarist in my youth, requiring some experience at cleaning a tank from the outside, I was most interested in seeing it done from inside the tank.
The Bass Pro Shop at the Prime Outlet Mall in Niagara-on-the-Lake has some large tanks which, of course, need to be kept clean. Carly Brenner Hunter’s company, Carly Underwater Film and Safety, has the contract at the local store and its counterpart in Vaughn Mills.
Currently, there are 98 fish at the Niagara store. In Vaughn Mills, the aquarium holds 306 fish, while 84 more swim in the store’s stream habitat. Their work at the two locations is consistent, with a visit to the Niagara location every week and Vaughn Mills every second week.
One might wonder why a job such as this would require commercial divers. Under Ontario’s Labour Laws, divers who receive compensation from their work must follow health and safety standards and must be suitably trained as commercial divers.
Brenner Hunter is well-known in the film industry as a commercial diver and underwater cinematographer who can be called upon when below-surface images are required. Her team also does underwater work in the construction industry. She leads a highly skilled group of divers in these endeavours, and her company has received much recognition for its work and safety standards.
Growing up, Brenner Hunter was always around water. She was a lifeguard, a swimming instructor, and a sailing instructor, all of which helped pay for university. As an arts student who was also interested in marine biology, she attended Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, but realized film and drama were where she needed to be.
Brenner Hunter got her start in the Toronto film industry as a production assistant, then moved on to become a camera assistant. She saw some of her first underwater sets while working on the television show Murdoch Mysteries and the film Resident Evil 4.
During backpacking trips to Thailand, she became certified as a recreational diver and added more certifications in subsequent years. It was at that point that she wondered how she could combine her interests in film and diving.
In 2015, she enrolled in the commercial diving program that was offered at the time at Seneca College.
“That was the most challenging, incredible, physically and mentally demanding year of my life,” says Brenner Hunter.
Her underwater work in the film industry continues to be very physically demanding, from setting up the rig and site for the shoots right down to the filming itself. Her most recent work was in the Jack Reacher series, filming a cliff scene and a water fight.
Brenner Hunter describes the set as something that “looks like a blender. It was incredible to film in that.”
Her team at Bass Pro includes former Niagara Regional Police officer and dive team member Bill Wiley, who acts as Brenner Hunter’s safety coordinator, and divers Alastair Sinclair and Kayla Martin.
Martin and her family are members of the Niagara Divers Association (NDA) and the Ontario Marine Heritage Committee (OMHC). She started scuba diving at the age of 13 and has accomplished much both academically and within the sport over the last ten years. Last year, she took the plunge seriously, becoming trained as a commercial diver in British Columbia.
“Her dive skills are impeccable,” Brenner Hunter says of Martin. “She is one of the most determined and safest divers I know. She is invaluable. She takes direction, asks questions to clarify, and does the work with so much attention to detail.”
The steady work at the two stores is a boon for Brenner Hunter and her divers.
“Because divers are freelance, with no permanent Monday to Friday work, this provides us with steady income, especially through our slower season,” she says. “In the summer, it’s kind of a bonus for us, too. Most people who work in the film industry don’t have any ongoing contracts. And because we are so specialized in the work we do in film, we don’t get that work year-round.”
Brenner Hunter’s diving has taken her across Canada, and to Costa Rica to film a commercial. And when she takes a holiday, it always includes scuba diving.
“I just got back from a three-week trip to the Philippines,” she says. “I worked on my photography skills. Video I can do, that’s not a question for me. But I am really trying to work on photography. I took my camera and really worked on my photography skills.”
And like most divers, Brenner Hunter prefers to see the fish in their natural habitat. But she’s come to appreciate her role with Bass Pro Shops.
“Before this work, I had never been a big fan of aquariums,” she says. “I’d rather see the fish in the ocean. So my goal here when I clean these aquariums is to give these fish the best possible environment to live in.“
The steady work at the two stores is a boon for Brenner Hunter and her divers.
“Because divers are freelance, with no permanent Monday to Friday work, this provides us with steady income, especially through our slower season,” she says. “In the summer, it’s kind of a bonus for us, too. Most people who work in the film industry don’t have any ongoing contracts. And because we are so specialized in the work we do in film, we don’t get that work year-round.”
Brenner Hunter’s diving has taken her across Canada, and to Costa Rica to film a commercial. And when she takes a holiday, it always includes scuba diving.
“I just got back from a three-week trip to the Philippines,” she says. “I worked on my photography skills. Video I can do, that’s not a question for me. But I am really trying to work on photography. I took my camera and really worked on my photography skills.”
And like most divers, Brenner Hunter prefers to see the fish in their natural habitat. But she’s come to appreciate her role with Bass Pro Shops.
“Before this work, I had never been a big fan of aquariums,” she says. “I’d rather see the fish in the ocean. So my goal here when I clean these aquariums is to give these fish the best possible environment to live in.“
Thanks to David Gilchrist for submission of this article and photos and a special thanks to::
NOTL Local and Village Media.
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