Sea Isle City Beachcombing Tours Combine Fun and Education for Only $1.

By Donald Wittkowski For less than the cost of a soda, you can have some fun time on the beach, picturesque views of the inlet and all the seashells you can collect. Oh, they also give you a plastic bucket to carry your shells in -- or whatever else you may find during Sea Isle City's popular beachcombing tours. For 11-year-old Jake Hofer, he was happy to pluck a tiny sea sponge out of the powdery sand at Townsends Inlet Waterfront Park. "This is great. It's fun," Jake exclaimed. "Yes, it doesn't get any better than this, right?" replied his mother, Rachel Hofer. The Hofers, who are vacationing in Sea Isle from their home in Pittsburgh, were among 45 people who spent an hour Thursday scouring the sand and learning valuable lessons about the environment during a beachcombing tour. Sponsored by the Sea Isle City Environmental Commission, the twice-weekly tours are a family-friendly summer tradition. Children are given some environmentally themed goodies, including shell-collecting buckets and a coloring book decorated with marine life. Irene Bukowski, 92, has been a volunteer at the beachcombing tours for 25 years. Irene Bukowski, 92, a resident of Sea Isle for 82 years, recalled when she and the late Irene Jamison served as the two original volunteer beachcombing guides when the tours began 25 years ago. "We were always busy going out on the beach, showing everyone all of the shells. We had a lot of children back then," said Bukowski, who continues to be a volunteer. Bukowski quickly added that the tours still attract a lot of children, as well as adults. On a typical day, about 80 people will show up. For only a $1 donation, beachcombers learn all about seashells, marine life, the ocean and the bays from a volunteer group of environmental experts. The tours include shell-hunting excursions that resemble modern-day pirates searching for buried treasure. The yellow-shirted volunteers begin the tours by giving beachcombers an overview of Sea Isle's ancient history as a barrier island. "The first vacation people who came here were the Indians," said Carl Miller, a Sea Isle resident who has been a guide for four years. Tour guide Carl Miller holds a sea creature while discussing the types of marine life that live in Townsends Inlet. Miller continued with some insights about the tides, salinity levels in the water and the abundance of sea creatures occupying scenic Townsends Inlet at the southern tip of the island. Occasionally, he would throw in a joke, noting, for instance, that the female diamondback terrapins do all the work during the nesting season, while the males lazily hang out in the marshlands "playing Xbox and watching football games." Miller spread out a beach towel that contained an assortment of shells, crabs, fake turtles and other sea life. He used each one to illustrate his remarks. "You've got to listen, because there's going to be a test before you leave," he joked. Rachel and Jake Hofer listened intently while Miller spoke. Hofer noted that her son is deeply interested in science and had been "begging" her to do the beachcombing tour Thursday. It was their second year for the tour. Jake said he enjoys learning about seashells, rocks and fossils. He was hunting for moon snail shells and whelks Thursday, but his prized possession was a small sea sponge that had washed ashore. "I like learning all about this kind of stuff," he said. Also taking the tour Thursday were Maureen Paparo and her sons, John, 10, Joseph, 8, and Michael, 4. The Paparos, vacationers from Annandale, Va., have been doing the beachcombing tours for years. "I bring my children every year. I want them to know what they're looking at in the ocean and the sand," Maureen Paparo said, stressing the educational component of the tour. Maureen Paparo, a vacationer from Annandale, Va., brings her sons Michael, Joseph and John to the beachcombing tours every year. After the tours are done, beachcombers are given a certificate, signed by Sea Isle Mayor Leonard Desiderio, that proclaims them as guardians of the environment. Tours are held twice a week from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. On Tuesdays, they take place at 29th Street and the Promenade. On Thursdays, they are held at Townsends Inlet Waterfront Park at 94th Street. For more information, visit the websites new.sea-isle-city.nj.us or visitsicnj.com and consult the calendar of events.