Aquarium research institute hosts annual open house

Kids got a hands-on look into what marine scientists do to study the ocean in Moss Landing on Saturday.

The Monterey bay Aquarium Research Institute held its annual open house. It is a chance for the public to learn about what the institute does, from what ships they use to what scientists are discovering about the sea.

People got to build their own remotely operated vehicles using PVC pipes and motors, the same concepts engineers use to the explore with larger underwater crafts.

“A lot of what we do here is sort of the intersection science and engineering,” said Kevin Gomes, a software engineer for MBARI. “For us, this is a really good introduction to get kids thinking about what (they) can do to actually building things and use technology to explore the ocean and find new things. So we just try to inspire that in kids.”

Kids got 15 minutes to design their crafts before putting them in the water. They then had to experiment to see what would make it better. Along with hands-on activities, there were exhibits featuring different marine life the institute discovered using their underwater vehicles.