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Young adventurers take on water jungle
By BARBARA L. FREDRICKSEN, Times Staff Writer CLEARWATER -- Going on the Sea Life Safari is like tagging along on a research voyage with professional biologists. Wait a minute. That's exactly what it is. "We're collecting real data that we submit to the state (about) what's going on with fish out there every year," said Dennis Kellenberger, the executive director of Clearwater Marine Aquarium, where the main mission is research in the harbors and gulf surrounding Clearwater and Clearwater Beach. Paying passengers are allowed to go along and learn by watching the aquarium's biologists at work. Sea Life Safari started two years ago as a cooperative venture between the aquarium and Phil Henderson Jr., who owns the dinner yacht Starlite Majesty and the paddle-wheel riverboat Starlite Princess, which also ply the waters between the mainland and the barrier islands. Henderson provides the boat and captains; the aquarium provides at least one trained marine biologist (usually two or three) to go with each tour. Trained volunteers supplement the professional staff. The tours on the 40-passenger pontoon boat have been so successful that neither the aquarium nor Henderson's company has felt the need to do much advertising. "In the summer, if you want to be on the boat, call ahead and be sure there's a spot for you," Kellenberger said. Both the 12:30 and the 3:15 p.m. tours fill up quickly, and the mornings are often booked far ahead for charter groups. (Chartering the boat for 15 people in the morning is $200; in the afternoon, it's $300.) You can buy tickets either at the aquarium's front desk or at the Starlite Majesty's office at the Clearwater Beach Marina on the south side of the causeway. (Look for the large, three-deck dining boat at the east end of the parking lot.) All aboard for a day of adventureRecently, the Sea Life Safari left the dock with 40 kids from an Atlanta school who had been brought to Florida by WorldStrides, a Virginia-based company that takes more than 200,000 students a year to places all over North America, South America and Europe.
The tour had three BOBs -- biologists on board -- who were conducting fish counts by genus and species. At first, the kids were quiet, but when a school of dolphins began playing a few hundred feet to the right (make that starboard), they erupted with excited chatter. Biologist Wyllie Holland explained the difference between a shark's dorsal fin and the dolphin's dorsal fin and said to watch for the dolphin to come up for air. "What they're doing isn't tricks; it's animal behavior," Ms. Holland said. Then a couple of water scooters begin circling the dolphins and a loud, angry moan arose from the junior ecologists. "What they're doing is illegal; it's harassing the dolphins," Ms. Holland said. "If we had a video, we could have them prosecuted." Several kids snapped pictures and volunteered to testify about what they saw. The boat pulled a trawl net, which brought up scores of fish and sea creatures for observation and study. Sea Life Safari is the only tour licensed to pull the trawl. Once a catch is safely swimming in a glass container filled with seawater in the center of the boat, biologists Heather Faessler, Rhonda Bailey and Ms. Holland sort, count and identify each kind. When the container is down to only one or two examples of each kind of sea creature, the biologists and volunteer Len Gravitz transfer them into smaller, clear plastic containers and take them up and down the aisles for the passengers to get a closeup view. As a biologist explained details about each creature, the guides took some from their containers so the passengers could touch them: a puffed-up puffer fish, a shiny croaker, and a tiny hermit crab, among others. If any critter shows signs of stress, it is quickly returned to its seawater home. This is definitely a catch-and-release boat. Other stops on the recent trip included looks at three mangrove island bird sanctuaries, with colorful explanations of bird behavior. "Most birds sit on their eggs to keep them warm," Ms. Bailey said. "But it's so hot here in Florida that the parents sit on the eggs to keep them from cooking."
At one island, a mother pelican was feeding her young. "The mother catches the fish and partially swallows it," Ms. Bailey explained. "If she carried it in her mouth, it would make her off-balance to fly. When she gets back to the nest, she pukes it up and feeds it to her babies. There -- that mother is puking up lunch for her babies." The kids cooed their approval. After a quick check of the aquarium's crab trap (awwww . . . empty), the tour stopped at a popular shelling island. "Our usual trips stay here for 15 or 20 minutes," said Captain Bill, whose full name is William Dittmer. The retired industrial sales representative became bored with retirement, earned a U.S. Coast Guard 50-ton master license and became a tour boat captain. The charter stayed an hour this time, long enough for the kids to swim, snorkel, collect shells and get still more lessons in oceanography. The daily tours are geared toward ages 3 and older. The biologists adjust their lessons to suit the age group or groups on board. Narrators also point out luxury residences along the shore and reveal their movie star or magnate owners, so it's not all serious book stuff. The boat is in constant radio or telephone contact with the marine aquarium, so if bad weather is on its way, the boat captain knows to return to port immediately. If there's an emergency during the trip, help is only moments away. The boat tours last from two to 21/2 hours, but those with time for an all-day excursion can add a visit to the Clearwater Marine Aquarium for another $3.75 for adults or $2.25 for ages 3-12, a savings of $3 and $2 respectively. Hours for the aquarium are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. Both the boat and the aquarium are closed on major holidays. There are picnic benches outside the aquarium and scores of sit-down and drive-through restaurants nearby in Clearwater Beach. At a glance
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