January 24, 2000

Greeks making waves over Sea-Monkey invasion

By LISA ORKIN
Associated Press Writer

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Sea-Monkeys may be getting into hot water in Greece.

The tiny aquatic creatures -- which have attained a cult-kitsch status in the United States and elsewhere -- are the subject of a serious probe into a question that has fascinated children for decades: What are these things?

Amid concerns over marketing the product to children, a parliament member has demanded a Development Ministry inquiry into the biology of the Sea-Monkey -- the trademark name for the flea-like nymphs that have flitted around countless bowls and juice glasses since they first appeared in stores in 1960.

Actually, they are a type of brine shrimp that exist naturally in high saline ecosystems -- such as the Great Salt Lake in Utah. They can survive for long periods in dry eggs and hatch when immersed in warm, salty water. Their recent arrival in Greece, though, has made some people nervous, and prompted some to ask: Are they real? Have they been genetically modified? Should they be sold to children as toys?

"What is the ministry going to do to protect the little consumers?" asked Maria Damanaki, deputy of the small Left Coalition party, during a parliament session Tuesday.

The ministry is expected to give its report Monday, media reports said.

Meanwhile, toy shop owners are being peppered with questions by reporters and parents are fretting over children's demands to have their own Sea-Monkey kit, which were introduced in Greece shortly before Christmas.

The importers are bemused.

"We are facing it with humor," said Apostolos Vakakis, president and chief executive officer of Primo Toys, which imports Sea-Monkeys, marketed in Greece as "Thalasopsihoules," or "Little Sea Souls."

Sea-Monkeys began as just another "miracle" science toy in the post-Sputnik age. But they quickly took its place in the annals of marketing puffery: the packaging showing cuddly and frolicking "Sea-Monkeys" when in fact all you got was a lot of little translucent shrimp.

Now, Sea-Monkeys have reached a nostalgia nirvana among Baby Boomers, along with such icons Lava Lamps and Brady Bunch reruns. Clubs and Internet sites are dedicated to Sea-Monkeys.

ExploraToy, which markets Sea-Monkeys and related paraphernalia, offers such accessories as a watch that can be loaded with Sea Monkey-filled water or a glow-in-the dark Ghostly Galleon for the creatures to swim around their typically brief existence. A colony of Sea-Monkeys can reproduce and survive for up to two years with meticulous care and feeding, according to the company based in Carson, Calif.

ExploraToy spokeswoman Vicki Sweetser said she could not remember any other government intervening in Sea-Monkey sales.

"It certainly seems unusual," she said.

Once Greek officials learn what Sea-Monkeys are, other complications may emerge.

A "live organism being used as a game ... brings an ethical problem," said Christina Papanikolaou, consumer general secretary. This means there could be restrictions on Sea-Monkeys being marketed as a toy. Even the Greek chapter of the environmental group Greenpeace has said it could throw its weight behind Sea-Monkey rights.

Vakakis said the toy is as harmless as a goldfish in a bowl. "What ethical problem could there be?" he said.

But Greece has very strict laws regarding marketing to children. Television advertisements for toys are banned until the evening after most young children are asleep.