New marine studies center planned for Back Bay

Mathis Winkler

NEWPORT BAY -- Just last October, the city’s residents welcomed a new

interpretive center in the Back Bay.

But if a coalition of groups -- including the state’s department of

fish and game, the city and environmental groups -- have it their way,

another marine studies center will open its gates just down the water in

2003, the department of fish and game revealed Tuesday.

The 20,000-square-foot building on Shellmaker Island will aim to

educate residents about Newport Beach’s watershed while serving as a

water quality laboratory for the Orange County health care agency at the

same time.

“It’s a win-win situation,” said Chamois Andersen, a department of

fish and game spokeswoman, adding that scientists will not only conduct

routine monitoring of the water, but will also teach college and high

school students about their work.

While it’s still unclear who will pay for the $5-million project,

several organizations have already said they will contribute money. The

county, for example, plans to contribute $1.23 million in tobacco

settlement funds. The state department of fish and game, which has owned

the island for decades, will also pick up a large chunk of the bill,

Andersen said.

Newport Beach, the California Coastal Commission, UC Irvine, and

Newport Bay Naturalists and Friends are other partners in the project.

The center will include aquarium exhibits and live video footage

transmitted by underwater cameras from the bay. Displays will show how

the watershed’s different freshwater streams pass through the bay and

education programs will focus on the importance of water quality needed

to preserve the wildlife that is found in the water and onshore.

To some, the announcement of the proposed center didn’t come as a

surprise.

“That’s been planned for a long, long time,” said Lisa Miller, the

president of Shellmaker, Inc., a dredging company that was based on the

island before state officials banned any commercial activity about 10

years ago.

Miller added that a science lab currently stationed there had already

offered “some real neat things for young people.”

She’d like to see more of the same, she said.

“Things that enhance people’s respect for the ocean can only be good,”

she said.

FYI

State officials will unveil plans for the new marine science center

during an Earth Day celebration on Shellmaker Island Saturday. Other

activities will include kayak tours, hiking and biking along the

saltwater marsh and talks by naturalists. The event will begin at 10 a.m.

and last until 3 p.m. The island can be reached from Back Bay Drive.