TOUCH SALTY CRITTERS SATURDAY

Imagine living in a world of extremes where in some moments of the day you are covered in bone-chilling water, in others you experience the heat of the blistering sun and still other hours are spent being pounded by forceful waves. But that's not all. Other inhabitants are on the prowl to find their next meal: you!

Such is the challenging everyday life of the remarkable tide pool creatures featured in "Salty Critters: From the Ocean to Your Fingertips," which takes place tomorrow from 1:00-3:00pm at Explorit Science Center. The program is free with paid admission to the museum.

Thien Mai, marine lab supervisor for the evolution and ecology department of UC Davis, will bring a variety of marine organisms that have the necessary adaptations to not only survive but thrive in what some may consider the uninviting intertidal environment. Some of these creatures, like limpets and crabs, have hard shells to prevent moisture loss or protect them from predators. Mussels have strong threads that anchor them to rocks and sea stars have suctioning feet that prevent them from being swept away.

Visitors to tomorrows program will have the opportunity to observe some of these creatures. "Of course they can touch most of the animals we bring. We will be bringing animals that are safe and interesting for people," said Mai.

"We will bring a couple decorator crabs. They use whatever is in their surrounding environment to decorate themselves and camouflage from bigger predators. They will even use other animals as decoration. We will also bring a sunflower sea star. This is the fastest moving sea star that we have. It is able to coordinate thousands of its tube feet to move along sand or rock to chase down its prey," added Mai.

The specimens in tomorrow's program come from the teaching program for the evolution and ecology department at the main UC Davis campus. This department teaches introductory animal biology to up to 2,100 students per year from about 100 different majors. Because many of the animal groups in the world are found in the oceans, the courses are heavily geared towards these marine animals. 

Being a land-locked campus UC Davis needs to bring the ocean to the students. The university maintains a couple dozen large aquaria with organisms from several different groups (Cnidarians, Annelids, Molluscs, Arthropods and Echinoderms). The live animals are collected mainly off the coast of southern California as well as locally on the north coast near Bodega Bay.

Tomorrow's "Salty Critters" program will allow visitors the opportunity to experience the tide pool without making the trip to the coast. This safe and comfortable indoor experience will be protected from the sometimes harsh conditions faced by these remarkable and diverse creatures and will give visitors a chance to appreciate how these animals, from sea stars to sea fans, use their special features to overcome the sun, tides and storms of their marine habitats.

This Family Explorations program is made possible through the generous support of Davis Waste Removal.

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Explorit Science Center is at 3141 Fifth St. in East Davis. The current exhibition "What an Animal! Fins and Feathers and Other Creature Features" runs through June 11. Public hours are Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Tuesday through Friday from 2 to 4:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.explorit.org or call Explorit at (530) 756-0191.