Marriage Proposal Under the Sea
Big Question Popped to Birch Aquarium Diver
Makes it All the Way to ‘Good Morning America’

Jessica Z. Crawford | January 28, 2008

Cullen Hendrix surprised his girlfriend of more than 5 years, Sarah Glaser, with a marriage proposal during her last kelp tank dive as a volunteer at Birch Aquarium at Scripps.

Click here to view the video
of the proposal on Good Morning America.

There was no question in Cullen Hendrix’s mind when deciding how to pop the big question to his diver girlfriend.

On Jan. 24, the UC San Diego student surprised Sarah Glaser, a doctoral candidate at Scripps Institution of Oceanography, with a marriage proposal as she swam among the sharks and fishes during her last kelp tank dive show as a Birch Aquarium at Scripps volunteer.

“I wanted it to be something that was memorable,” said Hendrix, who will earn his doctorate in political science this year. “The whole time I’ve known her, marine life has been such an important part of her life and so has volunteering here. I thought this would pay tribute to who she is.”

Hendrix asked Glaser to marry him at the end of a question-and-answer period with the audience. Birch Aquarium kelp tank divers are equipped with a communications system that allows them to interact with curious visitors watching the show.

Hendrix hid to the side during most of the show, but stepped in full view of a shocked Glaser to ask the final question – “Will you marry me?” She giggled and said “yes,” generating a plume of bubbles that rose to the top of the 70,000-gallon tank. Hendrix kissed the tank while the audience erupted in cheers and applause.

At the top of the kelp tank, the lovebirds shared their first hug -- albeit a wet one -- and kiss as an engaged couple, and Hendrix slid onto her finger an o-ring, used in diving gear to seal off water. They plan to shop for the real ring together.

“I was a little bit in disbelief that he proposed to me in an aquarium,” said a dripping wet Glaser after the proposal, “but I’m very happy.”

After proposing, Hendrix slips a diving o-ring onto Glaser's finger. The couple plans to shop for an engagement ring together.

The couple, both 30, met through a mutual friend in 2002 when Sarah was visiting the Scripps campus as a prospective student. His first question on their first date was about fish, and one of their early dates was a trip to Baja California to swim with whale sharks. Glaser, who will receive her doctorate in biological oceanography this year, has been an aquarium volunteer diver since 2004.

Hendrix had been planning the proposal for about a month and contacted Birch Aquarium at Scripps staff to help make it happen. Local media came to witness the event too, and by Friday, Dianne Sawyer was talking about the unusual proposal on “Good Morning America.”

In the fall, the couple leaves for Texas, where Hendrix will become a university professor and Glaser will start her postdoctoral research.

“I think we are going to enjoy a very happy life together,” Hendrix said. “I love her more than anything in the world, and I’m so excited about our future together.”