Commercial Diver

Although their pet fish lead dull lives — the highlights of which are artificial bubbles and plastic castles — many children fantasize about having flippers and fins. In fact, many grow up wishing they could be mermaids and mermen, swimming full-time in kingdom of fish, squid and seaweed.

Because humans have neither gills nor scales, it’s an impossible wish. Unless you’re a Commercial Diver, that is. In that case, you’re paid to act out your marine fantasies as an underwater worker.

Although they’re not fish, Commercial Divers are paid to act like them, spending their days under the sea tinkering, touring and toying as if they were Triton himself.

If you’re a Commercial Diver, what you do underwater depends on whom you work for. Most often, for instance, you’re an underwater Construction Worker who’s employed by construction and engineering firms, oil and gas companies, state and federal governments, and shipping companies, all of which pay you to inspect, install, repair and remove underwater equipment, parts, components and structures — including, for example, docks, pipes, ships, buoyage systems, bridge foundations and oil rigs.

Equally plausible: You might be a Scientist, paid to observe, photograph, collect and cultivate marine species; a Geologist, paid to find and explore underwater sources for oil and natural gas; an Environmentalist, paid to remove underwater garbage and pollution; or a Detective, paid to find and recover sunken ships and cargo.

The possibilities are infinite. What they all have in common, however, is the equipment — scuba gear — and the mission: Making like a whacked mobster and swimming with the fishes (minus the cement shoes, of course).