Best-served chilled

June Casagrande

When it comes to urchins, sea cucumbers and other marine critters,

some like it cold, which is why tide pool creatures could get a

little hot under the gills at news that the Sharkmobile program won’t

get a hoped-for $10,000 grant.

The Sharkmobile is a free educational program of the Upper Newport

Bay Ecological Reserve Science Center and the California Department

of Fish and Game. The program brings marine life straight to the

schools to teach students about Southern California’s wildlife

resources and humans’ effect on nature.

“We like to take the program to inland communities so students can

see marine habitats and especially to teach them about human impacts

such as storm water runoff,” said Sarah James, a scientific aide for

the Department of Fish and Game, who serves as a lead educator for

the program.

The Sharkmobile, which brings to local schools tide pool creatures

and even two species of sharks native to Newport Bay, has only been

in operation a few months. Operators of the program applied for a

$10,000 grant from the California Coastal Commission that they hoped

would help them continue to bring the program around to schools for

free. But last week, they got word that they didn’t get the grant.

“The biggest thing we needed from our grant was a chiller to chill

our water,” James said. The sea creatures live in

temperature-controlled tanks at the science center.

“It will be a problem when the warm weather hits and we don’t have

adequate facilities to keep our animals happy and cold,” he said.

The animals most likely to feel the burn are the tide pool

creatures accustomed to cold water -- sea stars, urchins, sea

cucumbers and others. The sharks of the Sharkmobile are likely to be

fine. The two species on the mobile are the leopard and gray

smooth-hound sharks, natives to Newport Bay that are used to

fluctuating temperatures.

Program Director John Scholl said he’s hopeful they can still find

ways to continue to bring the program to schools for free. Though the

Sharkmobile has a suggested donation of about $2 per student, making

the program free and available to all students is a high priority, he

said.

“It’s a wonderful program, and we’re hopeful we’ll be able to find

a way to keep it afloat,” Scholl said.