Tacoma High School Students Win 20th Annual Orca Bowl

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 28, 2017

MEDIA CONTACT: MaryAnn Wagner, Washington Sea Grant

Tacoma High School Students Win Statewide Marine Science Competition

Orca Bowl: The Junior Olympics of Ocean Science in the Northwest

High school teams from throughout Washington State competed for the winner’s cup at Washington Sea Grant’s 20^th annual National Ocean Sciences Bowl, which will take place April 20-23, 2017 in Corvallis, Oregon. This year’s Orca Bowl was won by Tacoma Science and Math Institute.

The competition was a tight race all the way to the end. At the last minute, the Tacoma Science and Math Institute (SAMI) team pulled off its first-ever Orca Bowl victory besting Friday Harbor High School by only two points. The Tacoma School of the Arts (SOTA) placed third. The UW School of Oceanography and the School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences offer scholarships to winners that attend their programs.

First-time participant, Clallam Bay High School from the Olympic Peninsula, took home the Megan Vogel Sportsmanship Award for their upbeat attitude and integrity throughout the competition.

The event was high energy fun and fiercely competitive, but behind all the excitement is a very serious educational purpose: nurturing a new generation of marine scientists. This is vitally important as the United States and the Puget Sound maritime region contend with marine issues such as ocean acidification, climate change, fishing pressures and other threats to the seas that sustain us.

The annual Orca Bowl competition was hosted by the UW College of the Environment and organized by Washington Sea Grant. Major sponsors included UW, the UW College of the Environment, Washington Sea Grant, UW JISAO, the UW School of Aquatic and Fishery Sciences and the National Ocean Science Bowl.

Washington Sea Grant, based at the University of Washington, provides statewide research, outreach and education services addressing the challenges facing our ocean and coasts. The National Sea Grant College Program is part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. www.wsg.washington.edu.

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