Aboard and beyond
June Casagrande
One of the biggest boats in this year’s Christmas Boat Parade will
be one with a big mission.
Rapture, a 150-foot custom educational vessel, will deck its decks
with holiday cheer for the second year to take part in the holiday
boat parade.
Most of the year, the boat is all business. Its job is to take
student groups on marine-education expeditions to Catalina, Hawaii
and elsewhere.
“It has been a vision of mine since I was in seventh grade to
provide a ship-based operation for students to go out and do field
studies and be able to immerse themselves in the marine environment
that I was fortunate enough to be immersed in, “ said Scott McClung,
founder of the not-for-profit Rapture Marine Expeditions.
A native of Laguna Beach and Newport Beach, McClung founded the
organization 13 years ago and has been providing educational
opportunities for young people ever since.
About 50,000 students from schools throughout California and
Hawaii take to the seas aboard Rapture to learn about everything from
invertebrate biology to marine safety.
“We have marine mammal explorations; we have little Zodiac
inflatables on board that allow us to get out on the ocean look for
dolphins, sea lions. It is fun,” said Robert Montez, a spokesman for
Rapture.
Rapture Marine Expeditions is based in Newport Beach, but the boat
is too big to be berthed here. Home for the Rapture is Long Beach,
next to the aquarium.
The boat is staffed with three marine biologists, an experienced
crew and even healthcare professionals to assure the safest-possible
learning experience. An on-board tank lets students get up close and
personal with some ocean species. Audio and video equipment lets
students on the ship communicate directly with the ship’s divers.
The education benefits of this experience extend even beyond the
sea, Montez said.
“It’s very encouraging that we’ve seen that, after the
expeditions, the kids’ academic scores go up,” Montez said. “When
kids see classroom learning applied to real life, it definitely helps
their academics.”
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