Each session can accommodate 40 students.

1. FULL LAB PROGRAM

The Full Lab Program is Channel Islands Marine Floating Labs’ signature program. It is approximately 3.5 hours in duration and offers the most hands on, instructive and tactile approach to introduce your students to the marine environment.

Once onboard, your students actively take part in the specimen collection effort by utilizing a wide range of equipment: otter trawl, biological dredge, plankton tow as well as an assortment of tools to assess water turbidity, temperature and depth.

After the collection session, which all students participate in, work stations are set up around the boat. Students are divided into 4 groups that rotate to each station while conducting various marine science activities. They will spend approximately 15–20 minutes at each station. Workbooks, as well as staff are provided for each group to guide them through each of these "hands on" activities.

These work stations include:

1. Physical Oceanography: Here the basic parameters of seawater are examined. The students will measure the seawater's temperature with a thermometer, turbidity with a secchi disk, depth with a sounding lead, plus other climatic conditions.

2. Bottom Sediment Station: Students employ the use of a bottom grabber, retrieving a sample of the mud from the bottom. They will then extract, identify and examine benthic organisms/animals that dwell upon the bottom.

3. Touch Tank: Here students are able to identify, record and "handle" all the specimens live that have been collected earlier during their collection effort utilizing the otter trawl.

4. Plankton Lab: Here students will marvel at the most basic forms of life in the food web as they explore and identify a sample of local "live plankton" under a projection microscope. Emphasis is placed on stewardship and watershed responsibility.

Cost: $550.00 per session, maximum 40 student

2. COMBINATION LAB PROGRAM

This program was designed to accommodate a higher number of students. The Combination Program still requires a minimum of 4 hours, however it can accommodate up to 2 classes concurrently.

One class will take a guided tour of the Ventura County Maritime Museum, discovering maritime history though a series of static displays and activities, while the other class is taking part in our At Sea Program onboard our Floating Lab vessel. Each program is approximately 2 hours in duration. This Combo Floating Lab program is identical to the Full Lab program, except we omit the collection process, and the boat arrives at the dock complete with specimens onboard, ready to start your learning experience.

Cost: $500 per session plus $2 per participate to Ventura County Maritime Museum (optional), maximum 40 students per session

3. WHALE WATCHING PROGRAM

CIMFL offers Whale Watching onboard Ventura County's LARGEST Whale Watching Vessel, the Ranger 85.

Your students will learn first hand about the diversity of wild life in the Santa Barbara Channel as they set out on the voyage of discovery. Students will learn survival strategies, migratory and breeding patterns as well as feeding habitats of the Pacific Gray Whale and other species of Cetaceans. Other animals typically sighted and discussed include, Seals, Sea Lions, Dolphins, Pilot, Humpback and Killer Whales. Aquatic avian of the region will also be identified and discussed as encountered. Students may have the opportunity to observe and identify unique island species as we guide them on a brief shoreline tour of one of the local islands, Anacapa or Santa Cruz; world class destinations inside the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary and National Park. All trips are fully narrated and Channel Islands Naturalist Corps volunteers are onboard to provide additional wildlife interpretation.

For whale watching click here.

It’s easy to book a trip. Call for prices and information.