It takes up to a year to raise the turtles from babies to 35 pounds. Because they're fed a diet of dead fish while in captivity, the turtles are sent to Mississippi after they leave the school so they can learn how to catch live fish. Then they're returned to the islands off the Georgia coast, where they were born. They eat the meat, make beauty and leather products out of them. We're helping kids bring the knowledge to their homes that it shouldn't be done.
All grade levels study the biology, physiology and human interaction components of marine science.
Field trips are taken and two weeks of every quarter are spent doing lab work. Each grade level focuses on a different habitat. The school pairs with Sea World in its Partner in Education program, and Sea World helps the school develop its curriculum. That's what Robert La Rosa would like to know as he parodies the popular song of the '70s with his banjo, giving talks to schools, Rotary and Kiwanis Clubs. Wild trout and coho salmon used to literally choke streams in San Diego County and Baja, he said.