Children take cameras underwater in program that teaches ocean science

Boca Raton - Choppy waters were a challenge Sunday, but Mallory Weber, 13, was no less determined to get a photo underwater.

The Pompano Beach Middle School seventh-grader and six other children snorkeled around a reef off the beach at Red Reef Park. Their mission: a still photo of something moving, preferably a fish or other sea creature.

"I think it's cool to see all the wild animals," Weber said.

The group of children ages 10-15 came as part of a Children's Science Explorium program to capture life underwater on 35 mm film.



The science center at Boca Raton's Sugar Sand Park is displaying underwater stills by photographer Christopher Guglielmo, of Fort Lauderdale Is your Fort Lauderdale restaurant clean? - Click Here., prompting Sunday's program. Gugliel- mo came to offer tips and to snorkel with the kids. The group of seven children will meet with Guglielmo on May 10 to review their photos.

"We want to get them involved with photography because it leads to more excitement about the ocean," he said before getting into the water.

The science center attracts about 1,000 people on weekends for programs that enhance children's understanding of how the world works. Activities are geared toward 5- to 12-year-olds, said Chip Robelen, a science exhibit coordinator who earlier Sunday led the children in a discussion of why the Titanic sank.

Pauline Zaros, of Delray Beach, brought her daughter Danielle, 12, and her neighbor Tyler Blankstein, 12, to snorkel. Zaros recalled snorkeling with friends in high school. Every week, they saw the same octopus but never got a photo.

"There's awesome fish out there," she said.

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