Seward is about to be invaded by a menagerie of marine muses in the form of Pretentious Pandalids,  Terrifying Tardigrades, Saber-Tooth Salmon, Marvelous Megalops, Nuclear Narwhals, and a host of other oceanic concoctions.  But never fear.  It’s all in the name of good, clean competition and education when the 16^th annual Tsunami Bowl, Alaska’s version of the National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB), gets underway on Friday, February 8, 2013 at Seward High School.  Twenty-five teams (some with names easier to pronounce than others!) from 18 different high schools across Alaska will compete for the Tsunami Bowl Championship and the opportunity to face winners from 24 other regions across the U.S. at the NOSB final competition in April.

The competition lasts all weekend, with oral presentations of the students’ research into the topic of “Estuarine Systems and the Importance of Freshwater in Marine Science” all day Friday and on through Saturday morning, February 9.  Saturday afternoon the Tsunami Bowl quiz competition begins, with teams squaring off against each other and the clock, to answer marine science questions.  The action concludes Sunday, February 10, around noon when the Championship will be decided, based on a combination of each team’s research score and quiz score.

Spectators are welcome to watch as students demonstrate their knowledge of marine related topics.  Volunteers are still needed to help with the competition.  If you have a few hours to spare, please contact Phyllis Shoemaker at phyllis.shoemaker@alaska.edu or 224-4312.  More information about the 2013 Tsunami Bowl is available on the web at http://seagrant.uaf.edu/nosb/index.html.