After six months of studying 3-plus hours a day, Monday-Thursday and sometimes Friday, with nighttime field trips to local tide pools thrown in, the Clallam Bay High School Ocean Bowl team was ready for the Regional/State competition. The competition was held on Saturday, Feb. 25, in Seattle at the UW School of Fisheries building and hosted by the UW School of Oceanography.

At 7 a.m., the team left for the long six-hour trip to Seattle. The team consists of; Coach Bev Mowrer, Assistant Coach Paula May, Captain: Katie Gonzalez (senior), Eve Hudson (junior), Rosie Cain (sophomore), and Sam May (freshman).

On Saturday the grueling and intense competition began at 9:30 a.m. and finished at 6:30 p.m. Although our Ocean Bowlers did not finish in the top two, they did bring home the coveted and competitive, “Sportsmanship Award” which was presented to them at the banquet held at the Seattle Aquarium Saturday night.

On Sunday the team was treated to a free visit to the Seattle Science Center, which included a 3D IMAX movie by Jean Michael Cousteau called “Secret Ocean.”

It was a wonderful learning experience for everyone involved. They already are preparing for next year and have been invited to attend the National Ocean Science Bowl finals as student volunteers. The finals will be held in Corvallis, Ore., at OSU in April, but will need school board approval and a lot of fundraising.