After a 13-month journey around North and South America the crew of Ocean Watch is returning to Seattle today. They have sailed around the Americas raising awareness about ocean health and conducting a few science experiments along the way.

Join the conversation here tomorrow as the crew of Ocean Watch participates the Marine Health Symposium at University of Washington in Seattle. Much of the symposium will be live-streamed from 1:00-5:30 p.m. PDT.

Route of Ocean Watch Through the Northwest Passage

Ocean Watch, the 64-foot sailboat that also doubles as a voyage of scientific discovery is traveling over the top of North America, in an effort to traverse the rapidly melting yet still dangerous Northwest Passage.

The fabled shipping route has been long sought by explorers as a quick way from Europe to the far East. Thanks to a little help from Mother Nature in the form of climate change the passage is now passable for a few weeks each summer.

And sailors of all levels of experience are flocking to the far north in an effort to be part of an elite group traveling through this largely unexplored area.

Despite annual melting of the sea ice, sailing through the Canadian archipelago is a tricky business.

REALscience continues its coverage of the voyage of Ocean Watch as it makes an attempt to circumnavigate North and South America.

The fabled Northwest passage that claimed the lives of many explorers including Sir John Franklin is now open to small boats for a few weeks each summer thanks to a rapidly changing climate in the high Arctic.

The 64-foot Ocean Watch sailboat is parked behind a 45-mile chunk of sea ice, waiting for open water to be among the first American boats to sail the fabled shipping route.

For the last two summers, ice-free conditions in the Canadian archipelago allowed smooth sailing across the top of North America for the first time. This year’s late and heavy winter is making navigating the passage more difficult this year. But sailors are certain the thick ice will melt enough to allow boats to travel successfully from the Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic.

For daily updates, follow the crew log aboard Ocean Watch.

Map of Northwest Passage

Whether the 64-foot sailboat Ocean Watch will make it through the fabled Northwest Passage–all indications point to yes, though–remains to be seen. But that’s what what voyages of discovery are all about. Follow the daily updates on the Around the Americas crew log and stay tuned for regular REALscience updates.

We talked to Captain Mark Schrader on Friday and he gave us an report on the first two months of the 25,000-mile circumnavigation of North and South America.

The first major sailing challenge, getting through the stormy Bering Sea, is a distant memory for the seasoned crew, as they prepare for a west-to-east transit of the Northwest Passage.

Listen here.

Photos courtesy of Dave Thoreson: cover, Captain Mark Schrader on ice duty, Ocean Watch crew playing soccer at Barrow sports field.

Scientists are starting to see jellyfish as a symptom of a sick ocean. More and larger jellyfish blooms are crippling fisheries that are already struggling. They are closing beaches and stinging bathers. But they are also moving toward the poles as the world’s oceans warm.

New research shows the threat to fishing, the monoculture of jellyfish and how the gelatinous critters can be used to gauge overall ocean health.

The crew of Ocean Watch, a 64-foot sailboat on a trip around the Americas is conducting a 13-month jellyfish survey to help fill in some of the scientific gaps in our jellyfish knowledge. They will collect samples–trying not to get stung in the process–and take pictures and video of the colonies they encounter as they hug the coasts of North and South America.

Listen here.
Photo: Jellyfish mosaic, courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/learnscope

With only a minor scare as it was leaving, the first sailboat ever to attempt a full circumnavigation of North and South America, set sail from Seattle for a 13-month, 25,000 nautical mile journey of exploration and discovery.

The four-man crew on the Around the Americas expedition is made of seasoned sailors who among them have circumnavigated the world twice, sailed from Alaska to Antarctica and were among the first to transit the fabled Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific through the Arctic Ocean.

In addition to the adventure on the high seas, the crew will be joined by scientists and educators along the route who will conduct a range of experiments and collect data for NASA and other organizations in the longest-running floating science experiment ever conducted.

REALscience will follow the adventures of Ocean Watch and report on the science being conducted along the way. Each crew member is going to be responsible for one area of science for the full trip.

Listen here.

Photos: Captain Mark Schrader, photographer David Thoreson, first mate Dave Logan, writer Herb McCormick.

Photo: David Thoreson loads the Ocean Watch bumpers before setting sail.

A group of sailors will leave Seattle soon on a mission that would have been impossible just three years ago. They’re going to circumnavigate North and South America through and they are doing it by sailing through a hopefully ice-free Arctic later this summer. KING 5’s Glenn Farley reports.

The 13-month trip leaves Seattle on May 31 and will stop in 30 ports on the way back to Seattle, traveling against the currents and raising awareness about ocean health. Sponsored by the Pacific Science Center, the Rockefeller Family Fund, Sailors for the Sea and the Tiffany & Co. Foundation, skipper Mark Schrader hopes to inspire a new generation of marine conservationists.

Follow the whole voyage at Around the Americas and look for regular updates here at REALscience.

Douglas Kennett

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