Published October 1, 2025
By JOHANNA MELTON
With a mission to educate students on ways to improve ocean life in Monterey Bay, Carmel High School’s Marine Biology club held a beach cleanup at Fisherman’s Wharf in September and awaits upcoming guest speaker presentations.
Members of the Marine Biology club present to an elementary school classroom. Photo courtesy of MARC KALMAN-ZULIK
The club was founded by seniors Bodhi Melton and Marc Kalman-Zulik in 2023. Since then, they’ve established many events, including beach cleanups.
On Sept. 28, members arrived ready to spend their morning collecting plastic bags, cigarette butts and bottle caps. By the end, they helped rid the wharf of multiple buckets of trash.
In past years, the club has attended cleanups hosted by other organizations, but this occasion marked the first time they have hosted. This is also the first year that the club has measured the type of trash collected, which has provided valuable insight into recurring patterns in community waste output.
On Wednesdays at lunch, the members gather to cover one current event and one new marine species before beginning conversation about what they will plan next as a club, such as hosting guest speakers. Because the club is entirely student-run, the speakers are identified and invited by the members.
“They are very tenacious as far as reaching out to people that they may or may not know to get guest speakers,” says Mishele Newkirk-Smith, the club adviser. “It’s pretty impressive.”
The speakers often cover career opportunities in the field of marine biology, along with giving students tools to help the ocean’s ecosystem. Because the Carmel Unified School District is located on the coast and in 2015 became the nation’s first Ocean Guardian School, the club leaders believe it is important to spread awareness about the importance of marine life.
“The main mission of the club is to inspire CHS students to get involved in marine sciences because we live in the Monterey Bay Sanctuary and have access to leading marine science institutions in the area,” explains Melton. “We also want to show kids how diverse of a field it is, from a financial to an environmental standpoint, with a wide range of occupations.”
