VENTURA : Fit to Be Tide by Parks Program

Huddled together, trying to keep their balance on the slippery stones, six children, eight adults and their instructor scanned the water and rocks around them.

“There he goes! See him? See him? He just ran under the big rock,” yelled 5-year-old Todd Renstrom of Ventura. Wearing a baseball cap illustrated with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Todd stood transfixed by a less glamorous sea creature--a crab.

“Look!” he yelled, pointing as the crab skirted sideways through the rocks. “Awesome!”

Todd was one of the participants in a tide pool expedition Sunday sponsored by the Ventura Department of Parks and Recreation. The event allowed participants to explore oceanside rocks at low tide while listening to a lecture on the animal and plant life found there.

“Crabs are usually the high point,” instructor Duncan Young said. “Kids like anything that moves.”

During Sunday’s excursion at Faria County Park, the sea slug came in a close second to the crab. Chris Rose described the slug he saw as “big, big, big, and spotted and slimy.”

Not surprisingly, the slug didn’t whet Chris’ appetite for seafood. In fact, he said he’d rather eat peas.

“Chris would rather die than eat peas, so that’s a pretty strong statement,” said his mother, Kathy Rose.

Some of the adults seemed tense balancing themselves on the slippery rocks. But the youngsters jumped from one to the next, fearlessly peering into crevices and collecting shells. Lindsey Grives, 6, saw a sea anemone and reached out to touch it. “Ooh, it’s slimy,” she said, wrinkling her nose.

Young said he is accustomed to such reactions. “Girls, especially when they’re about fifth-grade age, are the perennial screamers,” he said. “And sixth-grade boys always wind up getting wet. They go as close to the ocean as possible and inevitably get wiped out by a wave.”

Young continually cautioned the children to watch where they were stepping to avoid hurting marine life. At the end of the excursion, he reminded the children to return all but one of the shells they collected back into the water. Not only does the rule help preserve the environment, but some of the shells serve as hosts to other animals such as sand crabs, he said, “and we don’t want to hurt anything.”

The youngsters got to keep one shell as a souvenir.

Kathy Rose said she considers tide-pooling a great natural baby-sitter.

“You can take them to a less rocky beach like Carpinteria, and not worry about letting them run around. And they’ll entertain themselves for hours. Plus they learn a lot in the process.”

Other outdoor family activities offered this spring through the recreation department include a spring skywatch Thursday, during which an astronomer, with the help of a powerful telescope, will teach participants about constellations and other heavenly bodies.

On May 9 and June 8, there will be a hike through Seaside Park under the full moon. For information, call 658-4726.