Touch and sea

“I touched the crab!” “I touched it longer.” “No, I touched it longer.”

Students from Harbor View Elementary gathered around the touch-tank at the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum on Thursday and took turns feeling each of the sea creatures in the tank.

“The starfish is really rough like pumice that you use for your feet,” student Taryn Beaufort said with excitement.

The touch-tank is one of the newest exhibits at the Newport Harbor Nautical Museum, which recently moved to the Balboa Fun Zone. The tank features a variety of sea creatures collected from local waters by a scuba diver. The animals will be returned to their habitats and fresh ones brought in every two weeks.

In collaboration with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District, the museum offers regular educational programs for local students, and museum executive director David Muller said those efforts are being stepped up.

“We’re looking to expand our education program exponentially to try to draw more people to the fun zone,” he said. “That really needs to be the driving force of people coming down here during the off-season.”

To that end, the east wing gallery — where the Drummer Boy ride and bumper cars used to be — was opened a few weeks ago and the touch tank was filled with sea life Monday.

The rest of the fun zone is being spruced up with fresh paint and some new lighting, and a grand opening should be held in a few weeks, Muller said.

The museum is about 30% along in its goal to raise $20 million for the new property and facilities. Building it all should take four to five years.

Meanwhile, some parts of the new museum are open to visitors, and kids are a big part of the audience.

On Thursday, when they weren’t learning about pollution and how it harms sea creatures, students were enjoying the new sensations in the touch tank.

Some kids played find-the-crab as they searched through piles of sea kelp for camouflaged kelp crabs. Others looked on in wonder at the students brave enough to touch the sea stars.

“It’s kind of weird,” said Jake Huggins. “The sea cucumber feels like jello.”

— Jenna Kingkade is a junior at Corona del Mar High School who participated in the Newport Beach Chamber of Commerce’s mentoring program Thursday.