TAMPA, Fla. — It's never too late to find your passion. 

  • Everyday Hero Dave Grenda is a retired Air Force officer who volunteers at Florida Aquarium
  • Grenda dons wet suit and goes into tanks to keep them clean and maintained
  • Has 3,800 hours volunteering in the tanks

A retired Air Force officer in Tampa is living proof. 

When Dave Grenda gets ready for a day at the office, the ex-Air Force Lieutenant-Colonel dons a wet suit and dives in - often with sharks. 

Grenda and his wife Fran are volunteers at the Florida Aquarium in downtown Tampa. He spent years being a navigator-bombardier on B-52s and a nuclear weapons testing officer. 

His under water skills did not come until after his years in uniform. 

"I didn't really start scuba diving until I retired in Florida," Grenda said. "In (1998), I really started my volunteer work then." 

Among his many responsibilities at the aquarium: keeping the facility's enormous tanks clean and cleaning coral that will be relocate to the Keys.  

He also a hit with the many crowds gazing at sea life in the tanks as he goes about his cleaning with a friendly wave or two. 

Grenda said volunteering is his passion and he highly recommends it to others. To date, he has logged more than 3,800 hours volunteering at the aquarium. 

"You can be on the dry side as well," Grenda said of opportunities at the Aquarium. "You can talk to the guests that are coming through which is always fun, interacting with the children and adults. 

"And answering questions about the exhibit." 

Grenda also spends time volunteering at Sarasota's Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium

"Everytime they have a stranded whale or dolphin, we go in and pull a four-hour shift that helps rehab that animal to be returned to the wild," he said. 

A true love for the sea and all who call it home.