A Junior Lifeguard Adventure in Ventura

By DANIEL W. GATTO | Junior Reporter

For my third consecutive summer I was a member of the Los Angeles County Junior Lifeguard Program.

A typical day of JG’s would be arriving at the beach at 8:15am and starting with a warmup and then going into the water by 9:00am, rain, shine, overcast, it did not matter. We would then go on to a training event which was a challenging 1/4-mile race into the cold rough sea or another instructional activity. Usually the Junior Lifeguards would meet at Will Rogers Beach but today was different, today we would be going on a surf and snorkel trip to the Channel Islands.

We arrived at Ventura Harbor at 7:00am on an overcast morning and boarded a ferry to the Channel Islands with 50 other JG’s. When we arrived on the island we were presented with the options of going on a hike, checking out some underwater caves on paddle boards or snorkeling. I chose to go on the hike.

Right before we were going to leave, some baby foxes came up to our bags and milled around them sniffing for a treat. We then left to go on the hike. We hiked for 30 minutes and got to look over a cliff’s edge where we saw a massive container ship.

When we came back, we put on our flippers and masks and went snorkeling. There was a very large amount of silver fish in the water and they were swimming very close to our feet. There were also a lot of fish skeletons and that was a bit strange. They must have been eaten by larger fish or sea lions that lived nearby.

After this it was time to eat lunch. I ate some delicious food made and packed by my Dad. After this we went paddling into the underground caves. We had to go through a giant bed of sea of kelp to get there, and that felt very gross. The caves were awesome but very cold and dark. The water was rushing in and out very loudly, and I felt as if we could be captured by Poseidon at any given moment. We were told that the Channel Islands were home to a Great White Shark nursery but thankfully we did not see any Great Whites on this day.

After this we paddled back and headed home. On the boat ride back everyone was tired and a few kids were very badly sunburned, but not me! Many kids were falling asleep and a few were just exhausted on the boat. When we finally arrived at the marina, a few anxious parents were relieved to see their children. Overall it was a truly enjoyable experience with my JG Brothers and Sisters.

The Junior Lifeguard program is over now but I’m already looking forward to next year and eventually being a real Lifeguard sitting on their high wooden stand making sure everyone is safe as they play.