Most Sunday afternoons you can find 13-year-old Arnold Morales from North Hollywood sitting on his couch at home watching Jersey Shore. Not today. For the first time in his life, Arnold had stepped away from the couch and the shore and was on a boat.
Arnold and 13 other teenagers from the North Hollywood Area Jeopardy and Cadet programs hopped on board the ‘Circe’ and participated in the City2Sea program, a non-profit organization aimed at getting city kids on the water.
“We developed it to teach kids about ocean conservation,” said John Sakacs, a 50-year-old from Colonie, New York, and co-founder of the organization. “It’s to get kids excited about learning science using Mother Nature’s classroom. When kids have a choice between reading a book about a blue whale or seeing the real thing, I think they will remember the real thing more and hopefully it will encourage them to learn more about marine life.”
On Sunday’s expedition the children were taken about six miles out to sea and given a show by at least three different types of whales. Captain Sakacs stayed a safe distance from the creatures, but they seemed to want to get to know the kids better, swimming directly under the boat multiple times, circling them often.
“It’s better than being at home watching TV,” said 17-year-old Kimberly Fuentes, a member of the cadet program. “It’s really inspiring to do more things in life. It’s amazing to see the whales and get to fish. You sure don’t see whales in the valley.”
The North Hollywood Area Jeopardy and Cadet programs. are both run by the L.A. Police Department and help mentor kids to improve their life. The Jeopardy program is focused on at-risk kids. The cadet program is for teenagers who are interested in joining the police force or the military and are interested in volunteering in their community. Jeopardy kids are often referred to the program by parents, school administrators, or they are picked up by the police and required to go through the program.
“Jeopardy tries to help kids by mentoring them,” said Commanding Officer Justin Eisenberg from the LAPD. “We try to find fun programs to expose them to different things. We’ve never done anything like this [City2Sea] before. These kids live 20 miles away from the water and most have never even been on it. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for most of these youth.”
Sakacs said he moved to the South Bay and fell in love with the ocean, adding, “I just realized a lot of kids can’t experience this.” Sakacs is not a wealthy philanthropist. His program depends on donations and grants to keep it going. Even the boat he takes kids out on was a donation. Now, the boat is used as the organization’s on-the-water marine science learning center.
“I never knew a program like this existed,” said Robert Munoz, a police officer and youth service officer for the North Hollywood cadets. “I’m glad we were able to expose them to this.”
Although the conditions were clear and glassy for most of the day, the slow rock of the boat sent some lunches overboard, resulting in queasy stomachs and ashen faces. Gutierrez Horacio, a 17-year-old cadet fell ill halfway through the voyage, but was still able to enjoy the afternoon. “It was pretty awesome;” said Gutierrez. “I just didn’t believe what we were seeing. It was outstanding.”
“Generally these kids don’t get exposed to anything outside a five block radius of their home and school,” said Anna Saldana, a police officer and the North Hollywood Jeopardy officer.
David Avalos, a 13-year-old, was sent to the Jeopardy program for having bad grades. Since joining, his grades and behavior have improved. Coming on the trip was a reward for his accomplishments. “It was pretty cool,” said David, “but I was hoping to see a shark.”
The whale sightings were remarkable even for seasoned whale watchers. The crew was able to see two Orcas, a gray whale and even a blue whale that was extremely curious about the onlookers. Other sightings included sea lions and schools of fish. After idling and watching the whale show, the kids were taught how to fish and a small mackerel was reeled onboard, introducing many of the kids to their first live fish. They touched the metallic skin and were able to see it up close and personal.
“We are thankful to City2Sea for investing in these kids,” said Eisenberg. “It’s a very worthy cause and it directly impacts people’s lives in a tangible way. Most of these kids’ parents don’t have the financial wherewithal to bring them fishing or whale watching. It’s great that they are here to fill that void.”
