Mississippi Press (Pascagoula, MS)

February 10, 2008

By Brad Crocker

OCEAN SPRINGS -- With 75 percent of Earth covered by water, studying ocean sciences can prove to be a daunting task.

On Saturday, 75 students from 12 high schools from Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and Florida tested their oceanic knowledge at Hurricane Bowl 2008.

The University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast Research Lab and J.L. Scott Marine Education Center hosted the 16 teams that competed in Central Gulf Coast Regional competition.

One of the two Long Beach High School teams placed first and will now compete in the National Ocean Sciences Bowl in Seward, Alaska, in April.

Jonathan Jones, a LBH alum and now a freshman at the University of Mississippi, said he came back this year to help as an assistant coach after competing in the Hurricane Bowl the last three years.

The experience, he said, led to his decision to study marine engineering.

"It's definitely different watching this year but it's still a lot of fun to watch my friends do well," Jones said.

LBH senior Brandon Atwell, a two-year Hurricane Bowl veteran, said just before the finals Saturday that the team had to focus on one round and come from 20 points behind in the stiff competition to make it to the finals.

"It's pretty intense," said Atwell, who prefers the properties of chemistry and physics associated with marine education.

The vastness of the world's oceans is solidified through the rapid-fire question-and-answer competition format where points are rewarded when questions are answered in toss-up, bonus and team challenge rounds.

Among the many types of questions, teams are asked everything from where ocean salinity tends to be the highest, the time it takes bottom dwelling vegetation to reproduce and how a bottlenose dolphin's body reacts when it sleeps.

"Watching these students participate at such a high level in marine and ocean sciences gives me comfort in knowing that these are tomorrow's leaders," said Sam Clardy, regional coordinator of the Hurricane Bowl, one of 26 regional competitions nationwide for the NOSB.

Boat tours are also part of the festivities each year at the Ocean Springs campus, as well as field trips and guest speakers, Clardy said.

Clardy said students' results are tracked each year and marine education career camps and other offerings ensure that future generations understand their roles in dealing with the world's oceans and maritime world.

"The world's changing, and the oceans affect that change," he said. "We know they're needed and it's very important to recruit our young people."

The other winners included Navarre (Fla.) High School, second place; Niceville (Fla.) High School, third place; Okaloosa-Walton (Fla.) College Collegiate High School, fourth place; Long Beach High School Team B, fifth place; and Navarre High School also won the Sportsmanship Award.

Reporter Brad Crocker can be reached at bcrocker@themississippipress.com or 228-934-1431.