Paddling through history Harbor tour explores local wildlife and history

When a fellow harbor buddy greeted him as Lord Disneyland, Mike Lamm smiled.

He was, after all, standing near his Animatronic Channel Islands pygmy mammoth the only one in the world, as far as Lamm knows at Channel Islands Harbor in Oxnard.

The shaggy, chest-high replica of an extinct species unique to the local islands is a star feature of harbor kayak tours offered by Lamms company, Channel Islands Kayak Center.

The 53-year-old champion surfer has assembled items beneath a wharf to give mainland-bound visitors a taste of island history and wildlife. A mural depicting sea life is supplemented by day-glo starfish that, during night tours in the summer, pop out under black light displays. Amid harbor rocks, props provide child-friendly scenes as tour guides roll through colorful island history.

Photo by Anthony Plascencia, Ventura County Star

Mike Lamm, a champion surfer who owns Channel Islands Kayak Center, sets up an Animatronic pygmy mammoth, Chippy, for a kayaking tour of the Channel Islands Harbor this month. Lamm uses the mammoth, a life-size replica of an extinct species unique to the Channel Islands, and other props to share island history with visitors who take the tour.

There were sunken ships and pirates, Lamm said, as well as Spanish explorers and Chumash culture.

The idea for the motorized pygmy mammoth arose after Lamm met some effects guys while buying faux rock material for his displays. He hired Ron Pardini of CIFX Inc. in Santa Fe Springs, whose credits include Men in Black and who has worked for Disneyland, Universal Studios and other theme parks.

Hes pretty unlimited, Lamm said of Pardinis work.

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Pygmy mammoth model adds prehistory to Channel Islands Harbor kayak tours