Live Oak fourth graders visit aquarium

FALLBROOK - On May 19, Live Oak Elementary fourth graders went on a field trip to Birch Aquarium at Scripps Institute in La Jolla, thanks in part to a generous donation from Soroptimist International of Fallbrook.

The 110 students spent the day viewing 5,000-plus specimens representing more than 380 species of fishes and invertebrates. They visited the three living tide pools where they could touch and learn about inhabitants with the help of docents. Inhabitants include starfish, hermit crabs, sea cucumbers, lobsters and other animals local to San Diego’s tide pools.

The students were impressed with the two-story high, 70,000-gallon kelp forest. They thought the 13,000-gallon tank Shark Reef, devoted to shark species that inhabit tropical reef habitats, including whitetip and blacktip reef sharks, nurse sharks, and epaulette sharks, was “pretty cool.” Students said they had a hard time deciding which sealife was their favorite - jelly fish or the different seahorses and seadragons.

For more information on Soroptimist International of Fallbrook, please contact Young Milton at (760) 522-7481.