The Alaska Tsunami Bowl is a National Ocean Sciences Competition for high school students. It is held in beautiful Seward, Alaska, a place once devastated by a deadly tsunami as a result of the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake (9.2 magnitude) near Anchorage.
Wednesday morning, five of our top students along with two chaperones leave Scammon Bay headed for Seward!
Below is a map of Alaska with arrows pointing to all schools represented at the Tsunami Bowl. Scammon Bay is on the West Coast about half way up. Our air route took us from Scammon to Bethel to Anchorage. We spent the night in a nice motel in Anchorage, then the next morning, we drove from Anchorage to Seward which takes about 2.5 hours.
The Lunch Box is an Asian cuisine food truck that parks outside the Ravn terminal in Bethel.
It smells really good!
From Bethel to Anchorage we flew on a plane with a stewardess!
Ravn gives yummy gourmet cookies for thier snack.
This trip had a lot of "firsts" for our students. It was Tom's first time to go to Anchorage, stay in a motel, go to a mall, eat at McDonald's, eat in a restaurant with a waitress, swim in a pool and several other things. Below, Tom and I took a selfie to remember his first time in an ice cream shop. I told him that they would give him a free sample on a little spoon if he wanted to taste before he decided on what flavor. He said I know it tastes good just by looking at it. He was right!
Waiting for our meal at Chinooks restaurant.
As we drove to Seward, we took a few detours to do some sightseeing. First stop: Alyeska Ski Resort in Girdwood. We rode the tram to the top of the mountain above the clouds. We saw lots of people snow skiing and had gorgeous views of glaciers, mountains and valleys.
Rhea was a little apprehensive as the tram ascended the mountain.
We also went to Whittier. There's a 3 mile tunnel that leads to Whittier. This tunnel serves both trains and autos and has only one lane. We drove on the train tracks! There's a light system that controls the traffic flow. Inside the tunnel, every 300 feet there's an emergency shelter and a phone.
It cost $12 to go through the tunnel. Speed limit 25 mph.
Whittier is a tiny place but interesting. Everyone in Whittier lives in the same building. Whittier is surrounded by mountains and sits on an inlet that has a cruise ship/ferryboat dock. Below is the building that houses the entire town! The school building is right behind it.
Since we don't have trees in Scammon Bay, they are a point of interest to my students.
This is Tiny on Portage Lake before the mass exodus of running for the shore!
On the road again......
Boats docked in Resurrection Bay.
They did a wonderful job of speaking in front of about 200 people (scientists, engineers, professors, teachers and students). It was a great accomplishment for each of them. I was one proud teacher!
Seward has a great SeaLife Center. The SeaLife Center is funded by the settlement of the Exxon Valdez disaster. They hosted the students in the evening with a meal and special viewing of some exhibits.
Below you can see Tom and Harry observing anemones, starfish and urchins. This was a "touch tank" and the students could gently feel of the animals in the tank.
I am very impressed with this group of young people. They were well-mannered, enthusiastic,willing to try new things and meet new people.
Tsunami Bowl 2015 was a success on all counts and we are already planning for next year's competition!
