Museum Exhibits Oceans’ Oddities

Hundreds of thousands of people visit the beach each summer, but few venture out to the open sea to view the variety of life found there. The Cabrillo Marine Museum’s newest permanent exhibit, “Open Ocean: The Vast Frontier,” offers insight into this little-known realm.

Using a rare display of live moon jellies and other fragile underwater life forms, as well as graphics, models and preserved specimens, the exhibit illuminates some of the strangest and most interesting creatures on earth, such as the flap-jack devilfish and the football fish.

About a dozen pulsating umbrella-shaped moon jellies can be observed inside the wheel-shaped aquarium, which is a highlight of the exhibit. When only a few months old, the jellyfish develop into dome-shaped transparent “bells,” and when fully grown can reach 17 inches or more across.

The exhibit opens Saturday. Call (310) 548-7562.

ANTHROPOLOGY

The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County will feature an exhibition on early human species on Saturday and Sunday. A cast of the footprints of two adults and a child that date from 3.5 million years ago is included in the exhibit, which is scheduled as part of the multicultural Artsfest ’92 festival in Exposition Park. Call (213) 744-DINO or (213) 748-3700.

SCIENCE FOR FAMILIES

The Friends of Soka University will host a “Junior Environmental Walk” on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at the Calabasas campus. Families with stroller-age children are welcome. Call (818) 880-4649.

The Ralph M. Parsons Insect Zoo will be traveling on Thursday to the Kidspace Museum in Pasadena, where children can learn about the many-legged creatures during workshops at 1:30, 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. Call (818) 449-9144.

HEALTH/MEDICINE

Many of the myths and realities of pregnancy after 30 will be presented in “So You’re Thinking of Having a Baby,” a community seminar presented at Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in Inglewood on Saturday at 10 a.m. and at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in Marina del Rey on Thursday at 7 p.m. Preregistration is required; call (800) 356-2824.

ASTRONOMY

Astrophysicist Tom McDonough will discuss the politics and science behind the search for extraterrestrial intelligence in “E.T.: Phone Earth,” a program presented by the MIT Club of Southern California on Thursday at 8 p.m. at the Rockwell International DEI Room in Downey. Preregistration is required; call (213) 254-5332.