On a recent Friday afternoon, a group of third-graders from a Lomita school sits on the floor of the Roundhouse Aquarium, gathered around Co-Director Valerie Hill, wide eyed and intrigued. They’re learning about life under the sea. Even though they live just miles from the shore, it’s the first time some of them have seen Manhattan Beach, the Pacific Ocean and the pier.

Hill keeps it fun and interesting. During her presentation, a sea star wraps itself around a young girl’s ponytail, hanging on for dear life with its miniature suction cups. A boy kisses a sea cucumber to show it his affection … right before finding out that it eats “sand poop” to clean the ocean floor.

The children alternatively laugh and recoil as they learn about the sea creatures beneath the pier, getting a peek into a world few will ever see first hand.

The hour will leave an impact. Some may decide to study marine biology or oceanography; some will know that the beach is so much more than sand and sun. Others will think twice before littering, having learned that trash makes makes its way to a storm drain and out into the ocean. Some may even be inspired to grow up, work hard, and live in Manhattan Beach.

For those who haven’t stepped foot inside the free aquarium at the end of the Manhattan Beach pier, that’s the power that it bears. As much as it educates and entertains, it inspires.