Floating Marine Lab Plan Approved

Hoping to educate more youngsters on the ocean environment--and lure more people to Channel Islands Harbor while doing so--the county Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a proposal to allow floating marine laboratories and water recreation courses at the county-owned waterway.

Supervisors voted 3 to 2, with Judy Mikels and Frank Schillo dissenting, to allow the county Harbor Department to establish an arrangement with Channel Islands Marine Floating Labs to accommodate the for-profit company.

They also agreed to include in an upcoming harbor master plan the development of a community center, much like one in Dana Point, that would provide kayak and sailing classes and a forum for other activities. And they signed off on a plan for the Harbor Department to enlist an activities coordinator to formulate events that would attract more people to the waterway.

The recommendations were put forth by Supervisors John K. Flynn and Susan K. Lacey, who saw them as a good alternative to a plan to build a multimillion-dollar aquarium at the harbor that was criticized by nearby Silver Strand Beach residents and deemed far too expensive.

“The floating lab is more than a substitute for an aquarium that proved to be financially too risky,” Flynn and Lacey wrote in a joint letter to the board.

“It would offer the same types of activities as an aquarium, but at a much lower cost.”

Vickie Finan of the Channel Islands Beach Community Services District, which represents residents near the harbor, said the plan was much preferred to an aquarium.