SSV Robert C. Seamans. Photo courtesy of Sea Education Association.
Kyle Alvanas, who will graduate next year with a BS degree in Marine Affairs, is making a voyage to the Phoenix Islands Protected Area (PIPA) with Sea Education Association, or SEA Semester, an internationally recognized program that combines classroom learning on shore at Woods Hole, Mass., with study aboard a research vessel. PIPA is one of the last remaining coral wildernesses on Earth. Little is known about the region. About the size of California, it is the largest—and deepest—United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organizations site, with eight fauna-rich coral atolls. Alvanas and the other students started the program June 12 at Woods Hole, where they completed preparatory coursework and developed their own research projects in ocean science or conservation policy. This week, the students began a five-week sailing voyage as crewmembers and scientists aboard the SSV Robert C. Seamans, owned and operated by the Sea Education Association. The 134-foot brigantine is one of the most sophisticated oceanographic research sailing school vessels built in the United States…[Read more]