‘Seafari’ : Disadvantaged South County Kids Cast Off Doubts and Learn that Research Can Be an Ocean of Fun

Three months ago, 13-year-old Martha Pulido was living in the Mexican city of Guadalajara, wondering what new adventures awaited her in El Norte.

On Saturday, she dashed excitedly along the pitching decks of a fishing boat outside Dana Point Harbor, learning the mysteries of the briny deep with a group of Latino children from San Juan Capistrano.

“It is my first time on a boat,” the young San Juan Elementary School student said brightly in Spanish as she hugged her English tutor, Susan Duberg. “I don’t even want to go home.”

Pulido was one of 37 South County children--most of them from low-income families--who embarked on a four-hour ocean trip that coupled fun with hard-core science, served up in story-telling fashion by a team of researchers from the Orange County Marine Institute.

The trip aboard the 65-foot fishing boat, the Sum Fun, was sponsored by the year-old Dana Point Kiwanis Club, which hopes to provide occasional free “Seafari Adventures” for disadvantaged South County children, many of whom had never been on a boat, said Kiwanis spokeswoman Eve Magnus.

“These kids need all the help they can get,” said tutor Duberg, who teaches a night class in English at the Capistrano Valley grade school for newly arrived Latino children. “I think they learned a lot (on Saturday), a lot more than they learn in a tiny classroom.”

Indeed, the children, who often needed help in translating some of the more confusing English terminology, looked on in wonderment as they were taught how to net halibut and rock fish, scoop up muddy samples of the ocean floor and distinguish between male and female sea lions.

Nine-year-old Adriana Perez squeezed to the front of a group of children standing around institute staff member Mary Donohue, who plucked a 14-inch mackerel from a tank full of assorted fish.

The fish had just been brought aboard in a long net that the children helped haul on deck.

“Isn’t this one beautiful? Look at the shimmering colors,” Donohue told the youngsters as they pressed forward to touch the sleek fish.

“Yes, that’s my favorite one,” Adriana agreed as she gently stroked the blue-green back of the slippery creature.

A few seconds later, Adriana was given the privilege of throwing the mackerel back into the ocean. “We want them to go back to where they belong, don’t we?” asked Donohue, teaching the youngsters to be more sensitive to the environment.

With a nod, Adriana hoisted the big fish in her arms, moved over to the railing and tossed the mackerel into the blue water.

Meanwhile, inside the cabin, institute staffer Julie Smith amazed a group of kids with a video microscope that transformed a drop of clear sea water into a world teeming with marine life.

“Wow, oh shoot, that looks huge,” said Michael Vaught, 11, one of five St. Edward’s Church altar boys who also attended the excursion. Entranced, the kids watched a television screen as Smith pointed out the pulsating creatures that bore such tongue-twisting names as Oikopleura, Leptomedusa, Cladocera and Copepod.

Some kids, however, were more preoccupied with the incessant rocking of the boat as it rode the peaks and troughs of the passing current.

Halfway through the excursion, Saul Perez, 11, and Emmanuel Luna, 9, were forced to lay on the deck of the bow, using their jackets to cover their faces.

“Oh, I’m getting kinda dizzy,” Saul admitted, but offered a quick explanation. “It’s just that I’ve never been on a boat before.”

But some contended that pitching and rolling of the small fishing vessel was the most memorable part of the trip.

“I like the way it bounces,” Adriana said, proud of her cast-iron stomach. “That’s the best thing.”

Kiwanis Project Chairman Milton Hanson, who accompanied the children on the chapter’s first trip, said the excursion was the culmination of months of debate on how the club could best help low-income children.

“Each Kiwanis Club tries to come up with something unique to help the kids,” he said. “We looked at where we are, a resort town with a beautiful harbor, and thought this would be perfect.”

Hanson hopes the “Seafari Adventure” program would soon become more than just a once-a-year outing.

“This was terrific,” he said as the ship re-entered the small harbor. “Much better than I thought.”