This will be a tour of the aquarium and all of the wonders of the sea there with Professor Blake Barron (Biological Sciences Department at Santa Barbara City College) INCLUDING  special behind the scenes tour of the aquarium to see the behind and top of tanks, equipment, husbandry facilities and questions and answers with Adam Atlas.  Adam Atlas has been an Aquarist at the Aquarium of the Pacific for 9 years, has a bachelor's degree in marine biology and is a former student of Professor Barron.

Mr. Barron will send an email closer to the date about anything specific to bring, what to wear and with more specifics about what animals and ecology we will see and expect on our trip. 

The following are key points made in planning our visit to the aquarium:

1.  The aquarium is busy on Saturdays so it is best for us to arrive right when they open.  It is about a 1.5 to 2 hour drive to the aquarium depending on traffic at that time on a Saturday.  Thus, we will plan to meet at 7:00 am and leave by about 7:15 am. DO NOT BE LATE - we will leave without you! 

2.  The cost listed of $57.00 includes price of admission, parking for the 5 cars and gas money for drivers. 
FOOD or ANY SOUVENIR costs are NOT included in this price.

3.   This is a general agenda for our visit:

- 9:00 am (aquarium opens) - arrive at the aquarium, check-in
- 9:15 am to 10:00 am - Mr. Barron tours some aspects of first floor with the group
-10:00 am or so - meet Adam by blue whale on first floor for behind the scenes tour - this time may vary that day depending on Adam's actual schedule that day.  Mr. Barron will be in direct contact with Adam that day.
We will split into 2 groups of 14 people each to do the behind the scenes tour.  One group (14 people) will go with Adam and Mr. Barron at a time for about 30 minutes each.  The other 14 people group will roam the rest of the first floor of the aquarium and then we will switch.  Thus, both groups get time to explore the first floor on their own and see the BTS part.
- 11:30 am to 12:00 pm or so - recongregate together and set for lunch
- 12:00 pm to 1:30 pm or so - have lunch.  There is a small cafe at the aquarium, but Mr. Barron's recommendation is that we bring lunch with us in a cooler in the car and exit the aquarium to have lunch outside and then re-enter the aquarium after lunch (we will get hand stamps/person).  We will make a final decision about lunch at the next troop meeting.  This will save both time and money for our large group and give the scouts a bit of outside time before returning to the aquarium for the remainer of our explorations.
- 1:30 pm or so to 5:00 pm or so - Mr. Barron explains some other specific and important aspects of key areas of the rest of the first floor and second floor of the aquarium and we might hit an animal presentation talk.  Much of this time, groups will split up into smaller groups and complete activities and a competition that Mr. Barron has planned.
- 5:00 pm or so - head out from aquarium to dinner somewhere on the way back to Ventura.  
PLEASE BRING MONEY OR A CARD TO PAY FOR YOUR OWN DINNER.
Due to traffic in L.A., it will likely take between 1 hour and 45 minutes to 2.5 hours to get back to Ventura.
The aquarium closes at 6:00 pm

Scouts WILL demonstrate the principles of the Scout Oath and Law and Outdoor Code AT ALL TIMES as we represent our troop and national BSA during our visit.

Mr. Barron will send an email closer to the date about anything specific to bring, what to wear and with more specifics about what animals and ecology we will see and expect on our trip.