CLASSROOM LABORATORY TAKES TO SEA; SKIPPER EXPOSES WORLD OF MARINE CRITTERS TO COUNTY'S TEACHERS, STUDENTS.

Byline: Gloria Gonzales Daily News Staff Writer

Adrianne Mock holds up the large, green Mexican spiny lobster so the crowd of teachers aboard the 60-foot fishing trawler can get a good look.

``This is a rare find this far north. We hardly ever see these in San Diego, let alone up here,'' said Mock, a teacher with a marine biology background who leads student trips on a floating classroom. ``This is a warm-water animal, so it's another indication of El Nino that this crustacean is all the way up here.''

``Lobsters will actually stay put if you tell them to,'' Mock continues, as she clamps the lobster on a teacher's shoulder. ``They make great pets.''

Carl Reichenberg, a high school science teacher from Chaminade in West Hills, is a good sport about the lobster dangling from his shoulder. He's one of about 30 teachers out in Channel Islands Harbor on Saturday to try out Ventura County's new floating classroom.

The Channel Islands Floating Classroom is designed to introduce a wide range of students to the marine environment, said Frank Ursitti, captain and owner of the Coral Sea, the laboratory boat. A captain with years of fishing and boating experience, Ursitti began planning the floating classroom more than a year ago, after learning about similar ventures in Los Angeles and San Diego.

``The program started in San Pedro about 15 years ago, and in San Diego they do about 600 trips per year,'' Ursitti said. ``This harbor is really a perfect place for it because it's small and sheltered. It can be blowing 30 knots out there and it's still protected in here,'' he said. ``Plus, the program is three hours long so it fits well in a normal school day.''

The program will be the first in the county to provide students with access to live specimens on board a ship. Specimen size ranges from microscopic plankton drawn from the ocean using a plankton net to larger fish like the horn shark, caught in the otter trawl. All creatures, with the exception of an eyedropperful of plankton, are examined and then released back into the harbor.

On Saturday, the group collected the lobster as part of the day's first activity: an otter trawl. Teachers threw a large net off the stern and then Ursitti trawled for several minutes. When the group pulled up the net it was filled with specimens including a horn shark, several varieties of perch, Pacific sand dabs, a California scorpion fish and spotted cusk eels, to name just a few.

``It seems like a sign that our channel is pretty healthy, with all these fish in it,'' said Lita Eckhart, a second-grade teacher from Parkview Elementary in Port Hueneme.

Teachers from first grade through high school attended Saturday, and the floating lab can accommodate classes ranging from kindergarten through college. Teachers can contact Ursitti ahead of time, and the program will provide lesson plans and preparation materials.

A second set of trips for Ventura County teachers will be scheduled in early February. Teachers can also call to schedule field trips, which cost $400 per session and can accommodate up to 35 students. Ursitti recommends a student/adult ratio of about 6-to-1, for a total of about 40 on board and a cost of $10 per person. The teachers' orientation trips in February are free.

For more information, or to reserve space on February orientation trips or for field trips, call the Channel Islands Floating Marine Lab at [phone].

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2 Photos

PHOTO (1--Color) Adrianne Mock shows a horn shark to teachers on the floating classroom.

(2--Color) A poisonous scorpion fish was among the creatures examined.

Joe Binoya/Special to the Daily News