_Located adjacent to the Avila Beach Park the Center offers docent led tours, educational programs and very popular educational summer camps. The educational emphasis is on local marine eco-system; plant life, animal life, water chemistry and local history. The popular Floating Laboratory and Discovery Lab Programs allow students to participate in activities such as boarding the Patriot Sport-fishing vessel, pulling the bottom trawl net, sort and identify the catch,  perform ocean water chemistry, observe marine mammals and birds in their natural environment, and view and discuss the variety of plankton and how they play a role in food webs and the larger ecosystem. These programs let the students become “scientists” for the day by allowing a hands-on experience of the life sciences.

The SLC's public aquarium provides an exciting opportunity for students and the general public to get up close and personal with local marine life while learning about the local history, weather, and estuary that make the Avila Bay unique.  Three exhibit areas include: 1) an upwelling board in the entryway to introduce the topics of weather and Avila’s unique location; 2) Avila’s Chumash history mosaic display to represent the Chumash people and their history; and 3) permanent exhibits introducing local marine life including: live touch tanks, fossil exploration and marine mammal displays.

With so many accomplishments over this past year, we are geared up and ready to take on our goals for 2012.  Some of the exciting things you can look forward to in 2012 include expanded community programs, increased on-the-water opportunities, instillation of the portable microscope lab (thanks to PG&E) partnership with Surfrider Foundation on their Blue Water Task Force, an Avila Bay dive cleanup, and of course our amazing selection of marine science based summer camps!

_ABCF is pleased to award the Avila Beach Sea Life Center with $18,000 in funding for 2012.  The Sea Life Center has a proven track record of operational success and sustainability.  Sea Life programs continue to make a difference in the lives of youth and adults alike who participate in their summer and year-round programs.

Visit the Sea Life Center website: http://www.sealifecenter.org/web/

2012 ABCF - Sea Life Center Funded Projects

Avila Beach Sea Life Center - Project:  See the Sea Community Education Programs
Amount Funded: $8,000

• In partnership with Cal Poly, the See the Sea program is geared toward adults seeking to learn more about Avila sea life and will feature rotating exhibits.

Avila Beach Sea Life Center - Project:  Scientist for a Day Scholarships 
Amount Funded: $10,000

• This grant provides funds to continue the Avila Beach Community Foundation Scientist for a Day Scholarship Program for students who would otherwise be unable to experience the tremendous educational opportunities provided by the ABSLC.  With this program, the ABSLC will be able to allow teachers the flexibility to attend a two-hour comprehensive marine biology course located at the facility, or reduce the cost of enjoying the incredible experience of the four hour Floating Lab program aboard one of the Patriot Sportfishing Vessels.  Such an experience makes an enourmous impact on the student's interests in science and enthusiasm for learning.  It is the mission of the ABSLC to engage students in an experience that will serve them for life while creating a life-long love for the ocean, its inhabitants, and a passion for learning.